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GOP lawmaker says Obama ignoring Congress

UPI/Kevin Dietsch
UPI/Kevin Dietsch | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- President Obama still needs to scuttle his healthcare reform plan and come up with a new one acceptable to Republicans, a GOP lawmaker said Sunday.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said Obama had been too busy adjusting his so-called Obamacare program on the fly without consulting Congress and needed to take a step back.

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"He needs to work with Congress and frankly I think we need to start over," Ayotte said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Obamacare is not the only area where the White House has avoided Congress and acted on its own, she said. She pointed to immigration reform and Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement this weekend on same-sex marriage benefits as an example of "the Obama administration imposing its will on the states."

Ayotte added that Republican voters were incensed with Obama's threats to use executive orders to circumvent Capitol Hill and GOP lawmakers would continue to press the White House on their behalf.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told CBS the increased use of executive orders was a response to years of the GOP refusing to work with the administration for purely political purposes. "When it comes to their opposition to the president, any excuse will do," he said.

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