House GOP files lawsuit, attacks Obama's hand in ACA implementation

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced Friday that the House of Representatives filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration, claiming the White House violated the Constitution while implementing the healthcare reform law, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The lawsuit, filed against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Treasury Secretaries, address two major issues.

Delaying the employer mandate: The House claims the administration unlawfully postponed the employer mandate twice. During the first instance, in July 2013, the administration decided to postpone by mandate by one year, to 2015. The second instance came in February 2014, when the administration announced that mid-sized companies will receive a reprieve until January 2016 to provide employees with insurance coverage or pay penalties.

The GOP said the administration violated the part of the Constitution defining the legislative powers of Congress (Article I, section 7, clause 2). "The Constitution does not permit the Executive Branch to enact laws, or to amend or repeal duly enacted laws, including by adopting rules or taking other unilateral actions that have such an effect," according to the lawsuit.

Giveaways to insurance companies: The House also alleges that the administration illegally transferred approximately $175 billion to insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act. The lawsuit notes that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the administration is scheduled to pay the aforementioned amount over the next 10 years to insurance companies under an HHS-based, ACA cost-sharing program. The funds have yet to be appropriated by Congress, however. The House claims the administration is instead using funds from a separate Treasury Department account to pay insurance companies.

In response to the lawsuit, the White House dismissed the legal action. "Instead of passing legislation to help expand the middle class and grow the economy, Speaker Boehner and House Republicans are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars pursuing a lawsuit that is without any sound legal basis," White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine told the WSJ.

Speaker Boehner has spoken about suing President Obama since the summer, reports The New York Times, but has had difficulty finding a firm to take his case. However, last week Jonathan Turley last week, a professor at George Washington University, took the case for the house.

For more:
- here's the announcement
- here's the first WSJ piece
- check out the lawsuit (.pdf)
- read the second WSJ piece
- here's The New York Times article