President Obama has unilaterally changed or delayed Obamacare 24 times without going back to Congress, according to Fox News’ Chris Wallace. Members of Congress sparred Sunday over Obama’s decision last week to delay Obamacare’s employer mandate.
“We have a government of one,” said Senator Mike Lee (R-UT). “We have a super executive and super legislator vested in the president of the United States. … The president knows this is wrong and it’s not defensible. He is violating the Constitution. He is exercising power that doesn’t belong to him. It belongs to the American people.”
>>> Check Out: Latest Obamacare Mandate Delay Has a Catch
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Lee debated Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) over the latest Obamacare delay. Becerra blamed Republicans for their failure to cooperate.
“What he’s trying to do is make things work,” Becerra said. “When Congress can’t pass bills, when Congress shuts down the government, the president can’t just sit there. What he is saying is, ‘I won’t wait.'”
In a new report for The Heritage Foundation, senior legal policy analyst Elizabeth Slattery and legal fellow Andrew Kloster write, “Abusive, unlawful, and even potentially unconstitutional unilateral action has been a hallmark of the Obama Administration.”
Slattery and Kloster document several examples of Obama’s unilateral action, including changes to Obamacare.
“When Congress refuses to accede to President Barack Obama’s liberal policies,” Slattery and Kloster write, “the Administration often ignores the restraints imposed upon the executive branch by the Constitution, and when the Administration disagrees with duly enacted laws or finds it politically expedient not to enforce them, it waives legal requirements.”
>>> An Executive Unbound: The Obama Administration’s Unilateral Actions
Last week, Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer criticized Obama’s unilateral actions on Obamacare. “It’s whatever he thinks,” Krauthammer quipped. “He wakes up in the morning and decides what the law is going to be.”
>>> Related: Krauthammer Explains Obama’s Lawlessness in 50 Seconds
