On Monday, a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) challenging the Obama administration’s decision that members of Congress and their staffs must secure government-subsidized health insurance through Obamacare exchanges.
U.S. District Judge William Griesbach, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that Johnson and one of his staffers who filed the lawsuit lacked standing to sue.
“The Obama administration violated its own signature health care law bygiving special treatment to members of Congress and their staffs,” said Johnson. “I believe that this executive action by the Obamaadministration is unlawful and unfair, and that it is only one of manyexamples of this president’s abuse of his constitutional duty.”
In his decision, Judge Greisbach wrote, “Under our constitutional design, in the absence of a concrete injury toa party that can be redressed by the courts, disputes between theexecutive and legislative branches over the exercise of their respectivepowers are to be resolved through the political process, not bydecisions issued by federal judges.”
Johnson’s suit, filed in January, argued that the Obama administration’s decision to use taxpayer-funded subsidies to cover his and staffers’ health insurance was not codified in Obamacare. He asserted that it would result in an unfair disadvantage with voters and force him to grant some of his staff subsidized insurance while leaving others without it.
Johnson said even though his lawsuit was dismissed “based on the legal technicality of standing,” he will “continue to move forward in our effort to return sanity, fairness and justice to government on behalf of the American people.”