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38 GOP Lawmakers Join Ron Johnson's Obamacare Lawsuit

Ron Johnson
Ron Johnson / AP

Thirty-eight Republican legislators have joined Sen. Ron Johnson's (R., Wis.) lawsuit against the government's health care subsidies for members of Congress and staffers, according to the Washington Post.

Johnson filed the lawsuit against the Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) in January.

OPM ruled last year that lawmakers and their staff could receive subsidies for health care if they enrolled in certain Obamacare plans.

According to the Post:

For now, the lawsuit continues, and on Tuesday 38 GOP lawmakers plan to file an amicus brief, writing that the "unlawful executive action" by OPM "is not an isolated incident."

"Rather," the lawmakers write, "it is part of an ongoing campaign by the Executive Branch to rewrite the Affordable Care Act ('ACA') on a wholesale basis. If left unchecked, that campaign threatens to subvert the most basic precept of our system of government: The President of the United States is constitutionally obligated to take care that the law be faithfully executed; he does not have the power to modify or ignore laws that have been duly enacted by Congress and that he believes are constitutional."

"In pursuing its strategy of unilateral governance, the Executive Branch has aggressively sought to frustrate judicial review of its actions. But courts must not shrink from their duty to enforce limits on executive power when necessary to protect the rights of individuals in actual cases and controversies. This case is a prime example," they add.

Published under: Obamacare , Ron Johnson