Someone is finally realizing that government needs boundaries. Thirty-eight members of Congress have joined Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson’s lawsuit against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for overreaching its executive duties. Granted, this is one branch of the federal government defending itself against another, but it’s a step in the right direction. At issue is a new ruling “allowing members of Congress and their staff members to receive subsidies for their health care coverage if they chose plans through Obamacare exchanges.” That very provision was already debated in Congress and discarded. Now the Obama administration wants just to declare it so without going through Congress. Sound familiar? Johnson says this ruling was just one step in a pattern of executive overreach by President Obama, and he took it as his best chance to do something about it. Twelve senators and 26 House representatives from the Republican party signed a brief in support of the Obamacare lawsuit. Johnson applauded his fellow Republicans for giving their support even though they could benefit financially if such a rule went through. “[They] realize what is at stake here is literally the constitutional balance, the constitutional framework of this nation.” It’s not just about healthcare stipends, or even Obamacare. There’s a bigger issue going on here, as the lawmakers make clear in their statement: Rather, it is part of an ongoing campaign by the Executive Branch to rewrite the Affordable Care Act on a wholesale basis. If left unchecked, that campaign threatens to subvert the most basic precept of our system of government: The President of the United States is constitutionally obligated to take care that the law be faithfully executed; he does not have the power to modify or ignore laws that have been duly enacted by Congress and that he believes are constitutional. Not surprisingly, Johnson’s actions have also met with opposition. The Justice Department has filed a motion to dismiss the suit. Other Republicans urged him to abandon the case, and Johnson even found himself having to go around Congressional staff who tried to keep their Congress member from supporting it. But Johnson is determined the President should not get away with flouting the law so obviously. Not just one, but nearly 40 members of Congress are willing to challenge what has become status quo in Washington, D.C. It’s about time someone held this administration accountable.
