Opposition seeks to sue Obama

A vote in the House of Representatives ended 225 to 201, largely along party lines, approving the unprecedented move of taking a US president to court.

Wednesday's vote authorized House lawyers to draft legal documents for a possible case, which is expected to claim that Obama overstepped his authority when making unilateral changes to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Republicans argue that Obama illegally changed the healthcare reform laws by using executive orders, which do not require Congressional approval, on certain points.

Obama's Democrats, who are in the minority in the lower house of Congress, decried the attempted lawsuit as an election-year stunt, ahead of November's "midterm" elections that will determine the control of Congress next year. But Republican House Speaker John Boehner told lawmakers he objected to Obama's "attempts to make his own laws" on the contentious issue of healthcare.

"This isn't about Republicans or Democrats. It's about defending the Constitution that we swore to uphold, and acting decisively when it may be compromised," Boehner said. "Are you willing to let any president choose what laws to execute, and what laws to change?"

Republicans have complained about other executive orders issued by Obama - on issues including immigration policy, same-sex marriage and the prisoner swap for Taliban hostage Bowe Bergdahl - but the party says it believes its case is strongest on healthcare reform.

Obama contends that he used the executive orders as a last resort after Congress refused to work with him; the Affordable Care Act was opposed by every Republican lawmaker.

'Suing me for doing my job'

Barack Obama, speaking in Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday, again sought to laugh off the potential lawsuit as a "political stunt" in an election year.

"Instead of suing me for doing my job, I want Congress to do its job and make life a little better for the Americans who sent them there in the first place," he told a sympathetic crowd, before adding: "And by the way, you know who's paying for this suit they're going to file? You."

The chances of ultimately bringing Obama before a judge or launching an impeachment procedure are currently considered slim, according to the Associated Press and other US outlets. With Obama leaving office at the start of 2017 - he is not eligible to run for a third term under US law - Republican lawyers would also be racing against time to arrange a case.

In the mean time, however, both parties sought to use the case to give their midterm election fundraising campaigns a boost on Wednesday. House Democrats emailed fundraising requests to donors during the debate, and against after the vote; one said the Republican Party "is chomping at the bit to impeach the president." The Republicans, meanwhile, called the House vote a "huge step" in curbing Obama, urging potential donors to "contribute right now to end Obama's executive overreach."

November's mid-term elections will replace the entire House of Representatives and one-third of US Senators in the upper house, where Democrats hold a narrow majority.

msh/jm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)