Republicans are in quite a rage after President Obama's use of executive power this past week in his proposal to protect as many as five million illegal immigrants from deportation out of the estimated eleven million in the United States. Obama states that he is pushing Congress to take action, however the Republicans clearly are upset with Obama's decision especially after taking full control of the House and Senate. The fact that Obama is doing this with his own exectuive power and going about the immigration issues himself has raised a red flag to the Republicans and speaker John A. Boehner stated matter of factly that "We (Republicans) will not stand idle as the president undermines the rule of law in our country." Republicans have in fact discussed the possibilities of suing Obama and some have called for impeachment or for the government to shut down, though it remains unclear how exactly Congress will react. A huge point of influence on what the Republicans will ultimately do in response to Obama's call is how to go about their business without alienating Hispanic voters who obviously have a huge influence on the upcoming 2016 election.
What do you think the Republicans will do in response to Obama's action(s)?
Where do the Republicans go from here in terms of passing legislation for immigration?
Do the Republicans have a justifiable reason to take aim at Obama through a suit or other means?
To investigate more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/us/white-house-tested-limits-of-powers-before-action-on-immigration.html?ref=us
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/us/politics/obama-immigration.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
3 comments:
I see this as an empty threat—it reminds me of 2012, after the President was reelected, when a good amount of Romney supporters in Republican states declared they were going to secede. I doubt the Republicans will actually sue the President... it'd be a waste of time. While the rightest of the right may rally behind this idea (probably to maintain an anti-Obama image more than anything), it ultimately just won't be able to gain enough traction. Though it can be argued that this executive order violates the spirit of separation of powers, I think it's fully within legal parameters and it'd be basically impossible for the Republicans to win in court.
I completely agree with Valerie. This is a very empty threat. However, I do think that this foreshadows immigration policy that will be passed in the upcoming two years with a Republican controlled congress and the issue that this will cause. The country, especially the Republicans, are very interested to see how often Obama will use his veto power and I definitely believe that immigration may be an area where he would veto anti-immigration laws. Impeachment is ridiculous, and there is no way that the Republicans could succeed in that. Also, Obama, though maybe slightly over stepping his bounds, has not done anything warranting such a response.
I agree with both comments, and I also remember the secessions declaration in 2012 and see the similarity. For all the talk the Republicans dish out to Obama, I do not believe it will cause any of what they warn for the future. Technically, Obama is allowed to make his executive orders, and even though Republicans may dispute it as bad sport of political action, I do not believe that any legal response against Obama will hold up or win. I wonder if a Republican response, now that they control both houses, will be made to respond to Obama to test the "boundaries" of Congressional power. I am also interested to see what kinds of immigration reform/policy will be put into place by both the president and Congress and if these policies will conflict prior to the 2016 election.
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