Jonathan Turley, professor of public interest law at the George Washington University Law School, testifies during a House Rules Committee hearing on a resolution providing for authority to initiate litigation for actions by the President inconsistent with his duties under the Constitution of the United State, on Capitol Hill on July 16, 2014, in Washington, D.C. UPI/Kevin Dietsch |
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WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- House Speaker John Boehner has retained legal scholar Jonathan Turley to sue President Obama after two law firms withdrew from the case.
Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, has spoken in favor of the Republican plan to sue the president over his delay in implementing the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act. The lawsuit remains unfiled, four months after Boehner, R-Ohio, first announced it, and the decision by two law firms to get out has become something of a joke.
Turley, writing on his legal blog Monday, called representing the House a "great honor."
"The question presented by this lawsuit is whether we will live in a system of shared and equal powers, as required by our Constitution, or whether we will continue to see the rise of a dominant Executive with sweeping unilateral powers," he said. "That is a question worthy of review and resolution in our federal courts."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was scathing.
"Even for $500-per-hour in taxpayer dollars, Speaker Boehner has had to scour Washington to find a lawyer willing to file this meritless lawsuit against the President," Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday.
"When Speaker Boehner can't legislate his way, he shuts down the government and files lawsuits. While he's staggered from Washington law firm to Washington law firm, the American people are wondering when he will stop the nonsuits and nonsense, and sit down with Democrats to address the real challenges working families face."
Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, called Turley a "natural choice" and a "distinguished legal scholar."
