The lawsuit was touted by House Speaker John Boehner, and asserted that President Obama exceeded his constitutional authority in delaying the implementation of the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act[1] and also addressed "Republican opposition to an estimated $175 billion in payments to insurance companies over the next 10 years as part of a cost-sharing program under the healthcare law.
[6] Her subsequent testimony, in July 2014, before the House Rules Committee, provided further detail about her legal theory on both standing and the merits of a challenge based on the President's asserted failure to faithfully execute the law.
[7] On July 30, 2014, the House by a party-line vote of 225 to 201 approved a simple resolution to move forward with a lawsuit to force the President to impose penalties on companies who failed to provide health care coverage for their employees.
[1][9] The vote authorized the initiation of "litigation for actions by the President or other executive branch officials inconsistent with their duties under the Constitution of the United States".
On September 9, 2015, Judge Collyer ruled that the House of Representatives does not have standing to sue secretaries Burwell and Lew for improperly amending the healthcare law.
[18][19] Judge Collyer also ruled that the House of Representatives does have standing to pursue the claims that the secretaries violated the Constitution by spending funds Congress did not appropriate.
[19] On May 12, 2016, Judge Collyer granted summary judgment in favor of the House of Representatives on the merits of the case, saying that the cost-sharing program under the Affordable Care Act, as implemented since January 2014, has been spending money that Congress did not approve.
[3] Judge Collyer criticized the government's arguments in favor of the cost-sharing reimbursements as "most curious and convoluted", adding its "mother was undoubtedly necessity".
[28] The action was noted to be "the first time either the House or Senate as an institution has brought a lawsuit against a president over enforcement of the law",[29][30] and the vote described as "a historic foray in the fight over constitutional checks and balances".
[36] Florida orthodontist and Republican political activist Larry Kawa, and conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch, filed a similar lawsuit against President Obama in October 2013, claiming that he has "spent time and money to prepare for the Jan. 1, 2014" deadline for the employer mandate.
Kawa and Judicial Watch, like the backers of the House resolution, oppose the Affordable Care Act and have said they believe the law should be vigorously enforced to accelerate its failure.