The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill this week that would allow the Speaker of the House to sue the President, a move that wastes time, money and distracts from the priorities of the American people, Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, said today. H.Res. 676 would give the Speaker of the House authority to initiate an unlimited number of lawsuits on behalf of the House of Representatives.

“When I talk to folks in Northwest Washington, they want good-paying jobs and opportunities like education for their families. That’s why I am fighting to raise the federal minimum wage, renew emergency unemployment insurance, help rein in student loan interest rates, and make critical investments in our transportation infrastructure to keep our economy moving.

“But Republicans are standing firmly in the way of these important priorities for the people in the Pacific Northwest and across the country. Instead of creating jobs and helping hard working families, Republicans have decided to spend the last few precious legislative days this month suing the President.

“Suing the President doesn’t bring relief to the millions of people who have been unemployed for months or years. It doesn’t fix our roads and bridges. And it doesn’t build the middle class with better wages. Instead, this partisan gimmick distracts from Congress’ ability to the make real and necessary change the American people want.

“House Republicans already have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on dozens of votes this year to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a law that is helping 20 million people access high quality health coverage. And they continue with other political stunts like partisan investigations into the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, when several bipartisan investigations have found no evidence of a cover-up.

“This bill wastes time and money, and it fails the American people. When the House Republicans ask for a vote this week on authority to sue the President for whatever politically convenient purpose they come up with, I will vote no,” Larsen said.

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