Congressman Steven Palazzo (R) posted the following on his Facebook Thursday morning:
“Today I introduced a resolution to formally censure President Barack Obama for his unconstitutional executive overreach.
He has failed to faithfully execute the law time and again, and he has violated the separation of powers by creating his own law.
Censuring the President affirms to this president, and any future president, that Congress will STAND UP and FIGHT BACK against any and all executive actions that violate the United States Constitution.”
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The House Resolution to Censure Barack Obama would specifically censure and condemn the actions of President Obama regarding his announced actions on gun control this week. It is the latest instance of Obama’s executive overreach that includes executive amnesty, his recent climate change treaty, and the Iranian nuclear agreement. Moreover, the president has also refused to enforce several laws, as required by the Constitution, including his own health care bill and refusing to address illegal alien deportations.
Presidential censure is rare, but has precedent. In 1834, President Andrew Jackson was censured by the Senate for what they saw as executive overreach when he took extraordinary measures to dismantle the Bank of the United States despite the objections of the Senate Majority. Additionally, more recent censure resolutions were introduced against President Nixon and President Bill Clinton. Censure sets both a legal and historical precedent that Congress disapproves of a president’s actions.
1/7/16