Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.- 4th) is asking his colleagues in Congress to censure President Obama for the executive actions on gun control announced this week.
Palazzo said, “The American people demand that we fight back against this President’s overreach, and this is the best way we can fight and win.”
Palazzo introduced the censure on Wednesday. Afterward, he posted the following text to his congressional webpage:
For seven years, the President has gradually expanded his powers through executive overreach. His actions this week to take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens is just the latest, if not most egregious, violation of the separation of powers found in the United States Constitution. Congress must go on record to stand up as an equal branch of government – both against this President and any future president who attempts to use his authority to write the law instead of enforce the law.
…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.
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