North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows pulled no punches while describing President Barack Obama’s new pledge to bypass Congress on certain issues, claiming the president “has declared war, and not just on Congress but the American people.”
Meadows spoke to Fox News’ Greta van Susteren about President Obama’s promise to undertake new initiatives and revise legislation without the approval of Congress. The White House blames recalcitrant congressional Republicans, who he claims have forced him to act in order to protect and provide for the American people.
“You’ve gotta find somebody to blame,” Meadows began. “And certainly blaming Congress is the popular thing to do right now. But really, in him trying to bypass Congress he fails to realize that his party was in control for two years. And many of the things we’re addressing today he didn’t address when he had a majority.”
But it was when van Susteren suggested Obama had discarded diplomacy and “declared war” that Meadows really got animated.
“Well, he has declared war,” he asserted, “and not just on Congress but the American people. When he talks about bypassing Congress, he’s really talking about bypassing the American people and their will, and the fact that they showed up and voted.”
“The executive order has been used throughout history, dating to George Washington,” Meadows continued. “The difference here is the way that he’s doing it and the way he’s being selective.” Chief among President Obama’s supposed abuses of power is last year’s delay of the Obamacare employer mandate. Many argue any delay — particularly one of such significance — requires Congress to amend the law the originally passed in 2010. And on Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder was unable to explain the constitutional basis for the president’s unilateral action.
If the situation is so serious, van Susteren pressed, what do congressional Republicans plan to do about it?
“It’s time where we’ve got to get beyond talk,” Meadows declared. “Obviously there’s been a number of things that we’ve looked at — resolutions, looking to the judiciary for relief. But ultimately we have to use every weapon at our disposal, whether that’s fiscal in nature or the judicial branch. We’re a co-equal branch!”
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