Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid channeled Judge Judy on the Senate floor Monday, contending the star of the television court program would throw out a Republican lawsuit against the president in "half a second."
"If a show trial is what House Republicans want, they should go talk to Judge Judy. I think even she would throw this case out in half a second," Reid said, according to The Hill.
The lawsuit spearheaded by House Speaker John Boehner and others charges Obama bypassed Congress and effectively created his own law by delaying the employer mandate in the Affordable Health Care Act.
Reid apparently didn't understand the point of the lawsuit.
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"Republicans demand the employer provision in Obamacare be delayed. President Obama agrees to delay the employer provision. And House Republicans sue President Obama for delaying the employer provision. Is this weird? Is this weird? I can answer my own question. Yes, it is weird," Reid said, according to the Business Insider.
A spokesman for Boehner responded with a tweet of an image of Judge Judy with the word "Baloney!" across it.
That prompted Reid spokesman Faiz Shakir to send out an image of Boehner in the pose of a judge, holding a gavel, with the statement, "House Republicans are filing a frivolous lawsuit against President Obama that's more worthy of daytime TV."
Boehner insisted, however, the problem is that Obama ordered a change in the law, which is beyond the authority of the president.
"The president changed the health care law without a vote of Congress, effectively creating his own law by literally waiving the employer mandate and the penalties for failing to comply with it," Boehner said. "That’s not the way our system of government was designed to work. No president should have the power to make laws on his or her own."
The health care law requires employers with more than 50 full-time workers either to offer health insurance or pay a penalty. The White House announced a delay, however, that would give employers with between 50 and 99 workers until January 2016 to meet the law's requirements.
Boehner said the legal action is needed because if Obama is not stopped from arbitrarily changing the law, future presidents will be able to do the same thing.
The House Rules Committee is expected to review a resolution on the lawsuit this week.