The House has standing to sue the Obama administration over a provision of the Affordable Care Act,
says Judge Rosemary Collyer of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She dismissed part of the House's legal challenge, over the decision to postpone implementation of the employer mandate, but is allowing the rest of the case to move forward.
The House had to demonstrate that it was actually harmed by the White House, and that the executive branch had broken the law in setting up subsidies for low-income Obamacare enrollees to help cover high deductibles and co-pays. House Speaker John Boehner, in filing the suit, contended that the House hadn't appropriated funds specific to this program, so the White House creating it was illegal. Then Boehner had to prove that this wasn't a simple conflict between the legislative and executive branches, and that the Congress was actually harmed. Collyer agreed.
"The constitutional trespass alleged in this case would inflict a concrete, particular harm upon the House for which it has standing to seek redress in this Court," United States District Judge Rosemary Collyer writes in the opinion.
Her court still must rule on the merits of the case, or whether the Obama administration has broken any laws.
But if it finds in the Republicans' favor, the decision would have sweeping implications, significantly reshape the relationship between the executive and legislative branches—and strike a significant blow to the exact type of people Obamacare was meant to help.
Generally,
courts have been reluctant to get involved in legislative versus executive fights. Congress, with its power to make laws, has the remedy for most disputes in its own hands. This time, though, the judge has
determined that the "mere fact that the House of Representatives is the plaintiff does not turn this suit into a non-justiciable political dispute."