WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) today released the following statement after a federal judge ruled in favor of House Republicans in a lawsuit against the Administration’s improper use of taxpayer dollars under Obamacare.

“This decision is a critical step in protecting Congress’s power of the purse from an Administration that has repeatedly ignored a fundamental principle of our Republic: the separation of powers. I am pleased that the court recognized the plain meaning of the Constitution and upheld the role of Congress in appropriating taxpayer dollars.”

BACKGROUND:
On November 21, 2014 then-Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) filed a lawsuit on behalf of House Republicans in response to the Administration’s improper use of taxpayer dollars to make payments – known as Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments – to insurance companies on the Obamacare exchanges.

While current law authorizes the CSR program to make payments, the Constitution requires that Congress expressly appropriate funds to be used before the Administration can legally make any payments to insurers. As the Constitution requires, “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” Today a federal judge ruled in favor of House Republicans that the Administration has no constitutional or statutory authority to spend taxpayer funds that Congress has not appropriated. Insurers are still required by law to offer lower co-payments, deductibles, and other cost-sharing reductions to eligible individuals.

The Ways and Means Committee has repeatedly highlighted the Obama Administration’s Constitutional violations and will continue to conduct robust oversight to combat this executive overreach.