Olson Votes to Rein in an Imperial Presidency

Statement

Rep. Pete Olson (TX-22) this week voted to rein in executive overreach and challenge the Obama Administration's refusal to enforce current laws. The ENFORCE the Law Act, H.R. 4138, gives the House or the Senate authority to sue the executive branch for its failure to faithfully execute federal laws. H.R. 4138 passed in the House by a vote of 233-181. The Faithful Execution of the Law Act, H.R. 3973, requires the attorney general to submit a report to Congress if any federal official refuses to enforce a federal law; the report would have to include the basis for non-enforcement. H.R. 3973 passed in the House by a vote of 244-171.

"The President's duty to enforce the written law is required by our US Constitution," Rep. Olson said. "President Obama seems to think he has an imperial presidency where he can pick and choose which laws he wants to enforce based on political expediency. The President refuses to enforce existing immigration laws, exempts portions of his own healthcare law, and stretches environmental laws at the expense of our economy. Yet, he has no constitutional authority to rewrite laws; only Congress can do that.

"These bills will keep the Administration honest by allowing legal challenge to non-enforcement of the law. The House is acting to rein in executive overreach and hold the Administration accountable for ignoring the Constitution. Our system of checks and balances is critical to our representative government, and we cannot allow any official to breach their constitutional powers."

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