--- title: John Boehner Explains Why He Wants to Sue President Obama description: Obama has "circumvented the American people," Boehner says. canonical: https://time.com/2960010/john-boehner-lawsuit-obama/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-06T16:33:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:59:24.749Z article:section: Politics og:title: John Boehner Explains Why He Wants to Sue President Obama og:description: Obama has "circumvented the American people," Boehner says. og:url: https://time.com/2960010/john-boehner-lawsuit-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted5fb9269ab6c6a5/69869aa906f2c170e032fcb9/3742c3e088a946c0949d006f1cda9807-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: John Boehner og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Boehner Explains Why He Wants to Sue President Obama twitter:description: Obama has "circumvented the American people," Boehner says. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted5fb9269ab6c6a5/69869aa906f2c170e032fcb9/3742c3e088a946c0949d006f1cda9807-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Boehner Explains Why He Wants to Sue Obama > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 6, 2014 4:33 PM UTC  House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaking on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 24, 2014. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaking on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 24, 2014.J. Scott Applewhite—AP  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 6, 2014 4:33 PM UTC House Speaker John Boehner says President Obama has [“not faithfully executed the laws”](http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/06/opinion/boehner-obama-lawsuit/index.html?hpt=hp%5Ft1) of the Constitution “when it comes to a range of issues, including his health care law, energy regulations, foreign policy and education” in a defense of the lawsuit he plans to bring against the president. The Ohio Republican, writing in a CNN editorial, says Obama has “circumvented the American people and their elected representatives through executive action, changing and creating his own laws, and excusing himself from enforcing statutes he is sworn to uphold — at times even boasting about his willingness to do it.” Boehner [announced his plans](http://time.com/2921512/barack-obama-john-boehner-republicans-lawsuit/) for the lawsuit in June. This month he will introduce a bill to the House that would grant the House General Counsel and the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group the authority to sue the president. Obama has previously called the lawsuit [“a stunt,”](http://time.com/2933353/obama-boehner-lawsuit-stunt-gma/) saying that he was “not going to apologize for trying to do something while \[Congress is\] doing nothing” during an appearance on _Good Morning America_. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has said he thinks the lawsuit is “the kind of step that most Americans wouldn’t support” and that Obama’s actions have been consistent with his presidential authority, [according to CBS](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-boehner-announces-plans-to-sue-obama/). “The legislative branch has an obligation to defend the rights and responsibilities of the American people, and America’s constitutional balance of powers,” Boehner writes, “before it is too late.” \[[_CNN_](http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/06/opinion/boehner-obama-lawsuit/index.html?hpt=hp%5Ft1)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2960010/john-boehner-lawsuit-obama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2960010/john-boehner-lawsuit-obama/"},"headline":"Boehner Explains Why He Wants to Sue Obama","datePublished":"2014-07-06T16:33:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:59:24.749Z","description":"The president has \"circumvented the American people,\" House Speaker says","url":"https://time.com/2960010/john-boehner-lawsuit-obama/","keywords":["Congress","Barack Obama","House of Representatives","John Boehner"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted5fb9269ab6c6a5/69869aa906f2c170e032fcb9/3742c3e088a946c0949d006f1cda9807-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted5fb9269ab6c6a5/69869aa906f2c170e032fcb9/3742c3e088a946c0949d006f1cda9807-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Boehner","caption":"John Boehner","creditText":"J. 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