'I think (Judge Judy) would throw this case out in half a second,' Reid says. | AP Photos Reid: Judge Judy would toss suit

Would Judge Judy take up House Speaker John Boehner’s lawsuit against the president? Harry Reid certainly doesn’t think so.

In a nearly 15-minute speech on Tuesday afternoon attacking the House’s proposed legal action, the Senate majority leader concluded that the syndicated courtroom TV star — retired family court judge Judith Sheindlin — would swiftly toss out the House’s lawsuit against President Barack Obama’s executive actions on health care.


“This is a phony trial … it’s a show trial,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “It’s what Republicans want. If that’s what they want, they should talk to Judge Judy. I think she would throw this case out in half a second.”

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Deeming the lawsuit barely worthy of appearing in the “daytime television” time slots that carry Judge Judy’s program, Reid called the legal action both a waste of money and a distraction from issues being pushed by Senate Democrats, like raising the minimum wage and dealing with student debt. Reid further charged that Republicans were hypocritical to be zeroing in on Obama’s unilateral delay of the employer mandate — something the GOP sought both before and after Obama’s delay of the mandate last year.

“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,” Reid said. “Is this weird? I can answer my own question: Yes, it is weird.”

Boehner’s press secretary, Michael Steel, responded to Reid’s remarks first with a photo of Judge Judy saying “baloney!” then rapped Reid for not standing up for congressional authority.

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“In the past, Congressional leaders in both parties worked together to protect our Constitutional rights. It is unfortunate that the current Senate Democratic leaders have turned their backs on that proud tradition,” Steel said in an email.

The House is moving congressional approval of the lawsuit through the Rules Committee this week, hoping to unify Republicans in opposition to the president’s health care policies and put House Democrats on the defensive in one swoop.