Showdown at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Showdown at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

 

President Obama has set up a confrontation with Congress that he cannot win. His intention to use Executive Orders to repair perceived inequities in immigration goes far beyond the powers granted to the Executive Branch. There is no section in the Constitution or in statute that permits Executive Orders. Executive power is noted in Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 of the Constitution which merely refers to the President as the Executive. The President is directed to “take care that the Laws be faithfully executed” as explicitly stated in Article II, Section 3, Clause 5 or else would face impeachment. Prior Presidents used “Executive Authority” to carry out duties delegated to their branch of government in the normal course of its functions. Failing to fulfill these requirements could be a cause for removal from office. In the case of President Obama his planned Executive Order on immigration would circumvent the legislative process hence making a new law which he is not empowered to do. This is the conundrum Congress and the American public face.

 

Days after the 2014 election a defiant President Obama misread the will of the people claiming he was going ahead with his plans to resolve “the immigration crisis.” A rapid rebuke to Obama’s plans came from the new Majority Leader of the Senate Mitch McConnell and the current House Speaker John Boehner. In no uncertain terms, Speaker Boehner noted, circumventing Congress would jeopardize immigration reform for the rest of Obama’s term. http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/john-boehner-obama-immigration-112861.html?amp The President seemed oblivious to the remarks from these leaders as his closeted plans leaked to the media. Expectations are Obama will proceed with his immigration agenda which will be met by an immediate judicial review or worse, an impeachment hearing. Quiet rumblings of impeachment by the more youthful members of Congress is not off the table. Excluding the latter

blocking funds for enforcement of Obama’s stated goals is another mechanism to stop his illicit acts. Ramifications of President Obama’s planned actions are numerous including a cost to implement in the tens of billions. As these people are legitimatized by Obama’s edicts rest assured more legal Americans will be edged out of work and onto entitlement programs. Boehner and McConnell are aging fossils who were very silent as Obama trampled on the Constitution in the past. They need to be replaced with more youthful members of the conservative caucus who want to act quickly to contain the President. Obama has drawn a proverbial line in the sand, which he plans to cross, daring Congress to act against him. Lame duck presidency will take on new meaning this January as the Republicans take control of the Senate. The question is: Do they have the cojones to act or will this be a replay of the Reid tenure? Most likely the former will occur, if not the Republicans will find their majority will dwindle next election cycle.

 

Mark Davis MD, President of Davis Writing Services  www.daviswritingservices.com Author of the popular book, Obamacare: Dead on Arrival, A Prescription for Disaster. For interview requests: platomd@gmail.com