The Obama administration has circumvented the will of Congress one too many times leaving the “most transparent administration in history” facing a real trust deficiency, according to Tennessee Republican Rep. Diane Black.
“I believe that he has [lost Congress’ trust], because when you have something that passes the House, passes the Senate and is signed into law by his own hand and then he goes around that certainly that is not something that makes you feel very comfortable,” Black said in a Tuesday interview with The Daily Caller.
She pointed to Obama’s January executive action threat when he said “I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone — and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward” as proof that at this point Obama is not even hiding his overreach.
“When the president blatantly says he doesn’t need Congress in order to forward his agenda, I think you do lose confidence and say, ‘My goodness what next? And how to we stop this out of control president?'” she said.
Wednesday morning, Black is scheduled to appear before a House Judiciary Committee hearing examining Obama’s executive overreach and possible legislative solutions to address what Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte termed “this growing problem” that “subverts the rule of law and threatens the individual liberty that our system of separated powers is designed to protect.”
She is slated to testify about the Obama administration’s failure to adhere to eliminate an illegal alien lobbyist position at Immigration and Customs Enforcement that was defunded by the Continuing Resolution Obama signed into law last spring. Instead of eliminated the position, the administration simply changed the position title.
“Once we discovered all the information [about the position] it just affirmed that this is someone who I just cannot trust because if there is a bill that is passed and signed into law and you blatantly see what he is doing,” she said.
Black has introduced legislation that would again defund the renamed position adding that Goodlatte has told her that after the hearings take place, his committee will likely take up her legislation as a stand alone bill.
“I anticipate that if the chairman believes that there is a good enough reason to bring this up which he has indicated to me, that he does see that and that we would bring this bill as a stand alone and move this through the process,” she said, adding that even if it does pass through the House the Senate likely will not take it up.
The Tennessee Republican noted that even if her bill does not make it to Obama’s desk it highlights the administrations overreach.