Democrats Demand Accountability for Boehner’s Misuse Of Taxpayer Funds for His Lawsuit

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Fired up Democrats are done playing around with Republicans. It only took six years, but apparently they’ve realized that being nice to bullies gets them nowhere. So, Democrats are demanding that Speaker Boehner be transparent about the taxpayer funds he intends to use on what even his side are calling his political “stunt” of a lawsuit.

Committee on House Administration Ranking Member, Robert A. Brady (D-PA) sent the following letter to the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, in which he cites “House Republicans’ conduct in the $2.3 million failed effort to defend the discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act in the courts” as evidence that they require “strong bipartisan oversight” in any plan to hire outside counsel. Thus, he demands that the Speaker abide by regular order and oversight for his use of taxpayer funds.

It reads:

Within the draft resolution to initiate a lawsuit against the President, we learned that you intend to seek authorization to “employ the services of outside counsel and other experts.” Such authority clearly falls under the jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration, and as such, I am writing to express my expectation that Republicans will be open and transparent about the use of taxpayer money in pursuing this highly dubious and partisan lawsuit.

As evidenced by House Republicans’ conduct in the $2.3 million failed effort to defend the discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act in the courts, strong bipartisan oversight is clearly necessary in any plan to hire outside counsel. The Republican majority must not be permitted to use taxpayer dollars as a slush fund to award a no-bid contract to high-priced, politically connected Republican lawyers without any transparency or accountability to the House or the American people.

Our opposition to the deeply partisan basis of your lawsuit in no way diminishes the need for normal oversight of the terms of any contract signed by Republican Leadership obligating the House to pay millions of dollars on private attorneys. Therefore, I expect you will honor regular order through my committee, even with this highly irregular lawsuit.

The American people deserve to know how and where their tax dollars are being spent, and House Administration Committee Democrats insist on regular consultation and transparency in the selection criteria and process, cost, and lobbying connections of any counsel or experts hired in the name of the House.

Now that Speaker Boehner has finally landed on an excuse upon which to base his lawsuit distraction from his own chamber’s abject failure, Democrats are going to demand transparency.

Like a truffle pig on the hunt, Boehner’s been single-mindedly sniffing for an excuse to sue the President that had not already been claimed (and then debunked by reality) by his Republican colleagues, who were kindly spending time on TV throwing alleged reasons at the wall to see what might stick, only to be humiliated over and over again. Finally, pay dirt. Boehner is suing over the President not immediately implementing a certain aspect of the healthcare law that Republicans are still pretending they will repeal.

Yes. The GOP message is “Obamacare will kill your babies and destroy America! But if President Obama doesn’t implement it all right away, we’re suing!”

Just how much will it cost the American taxpayer for this latest version of Republican Get Out the Vote effort? Time will tell. Republicans have already socked Americans in the gut with their failed Benghazi conspiracies and their IRS witch hunt that led them right back to their own backdoor, staring Karl Rove’s dirty SuperPAC in the eye while they screeched that things were so unfair for conservatives. Let’s just say Republicans have the self-pitying, paranoid vote all wrapped up, and you paid for it.

You can bet Democrats will be using these tallies of wasted taxpayer money in their campaign ads, which practically write themselves these days. Vote Republican if you want the government shut down while Republicans hunt for conspiracy theories from the top of Poor Loser Mountain.

Democrats are far from perfect, but they occupy more and more of the political middle in terms of operating as pragmatic problem solvers with reasonable judgment, and they are the only party actually doing their jobs.

Up next: Boehner’s lawsuit continues to fail, but you are still paying for it.

Sarah Jones

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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.

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