Top House Republican Won’t Rule Out Impeaching Obama
Newly elected House Majority Whip, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), refused to rule out impeaching President Obama on Sunday, telling Fox News that the president has acted unilaterally and illegally, exceeding his constitutional authority.
“Ultimately, what we want to do is see the president follow his own laws,” Scalise said. “He took an oath to follow the law of the land. The Supreme Court unanimously said 12 times the president overreached and did things he doesn’t have the authority to do,” he added, referring to Court rulings finding that Obama overstepped his executive authority.
Scalise explained that House Republicans are “going to continue to be a check and balance against this administration,” but would not say whether the chamber would consider impeaching Obama:
CHRIS WALLACE (HOST): Impeachment is off the table?
SCALISE: The White House wants to talk about impeachment and they’re trying to fund raise off that, too.
WALLACE: I’m asking you, sir.
SCALISE: The White House will do anything they can to change the topic away from the president’s failed agenda. People paying higher costs for food, for well health care, for gas at the pump. The president isn’t softballing the problems. We’re going to try to solve problems for everyday people. I would like to see the president engaged in that, too, that’s his job, but he wants to change the topic, talk about things like that.
Democrats have been raising millions of dollars since some conservative Republicans — most prominently Sarah Palin — floated the prospect of impeachment.
On Friday, Dan Pfeiffer, a top White House aide, even brought up the possibility, telling reporters, “It would be foolish to discount the possibility that the Republicans would consider going down that path.” House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has continuously ruled out the idea, though he is suing the administration for allegedly exceeding its authority in delaying a provision of the Affordable Care Act.
