FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2014

Congressman Markwayne Mullin (OK-2) voted in support of two measures this week that respond to the President’s continual acts of executive overreach.

H.R. 4138, the Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law (ENFORCE the Law) Act of 2014 passed the House yesterday by a vote of 233-181. Through H.R. 4138, the House or Senate can authorize a lawsuit against the President when there is a failure to enforce policy that has been passed by Congress and signed into law.

Following suit today, the House approved H.R. 3973, the Faithful Execution of the Law Act of 2014 by a vote of 244-171. H.R. 3973 provides for transparency and accountability when federal laws are not enforced by requiring federal officials, who established a policy of non-enforcement, to notify Congress of the reasons they chose not to enforce. 

The act of a President overstepping the boundaries of his authority is unfortunately not new to the United States, but under our current Administration the abuse of executive power has quickly escalated.

Mullin said both pieces of legislation are not driven by party politics, but simply reinforce the balance of powers and bring the President back to reality.

“We have seen that if the President doesn’t like a law, he changes it or ignores it altogether,” said Mullin. “Yet, the powers of the President of the United States do not include lawmaking. In our Constitution that task is given to Congress, the voice of the electorate. The very same document that gives the President his authority, also limits his authority. It is not a Democrat or Republican issue—it’s just the law of the land.”

Two current examples of overreach by the Obama Administration include the Affordable Care Act and our nation’s immigration system. The President has continually and arbitrarily delayed parts of Obamacare, outside of Congressional consent, and consistently failed to enforce the immigration laws of our nation.

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