Federal judge lets House Republicans' lawsuit against Obamacare advance

Richard Wolf | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans won an early round Wednesday in their legal battle against President Obama's health care law -- and, by extension, his use of executive power.

A federal district judge in the nation's capital ruled that the GOP-controlled House has the right to challenge the law's use of subsidies to help low-income people afford insurance coverage. That assures yet another case against Obamacare will proceed in the courts following two near-death experiences at the Supreme Court.

Republicans argued that the spending provision needed congressional approval. Without it, they said, the funds could not be spent.

The judge, Rosemary Collyer, denied Republicans' effort to sue over another aspect of the law -- the administration's unilateral delay in implementing the law's mandate that most large employers offer health insurance or pay a penalty. While GOP opponents didn't object to delay, they argued Obama lacked the authority to do it without congressional approval.

"The House sues, as an institutional plaintiff, to preserve its power of the purse and to maintain constitutional equilibrium between the executive and the legislature," Collyer said. "If its non-appropriation claims have merit ... the House has been injured in a concrete and particular way."

The ruling represents at least a temporary victory for House Speaker John Boehner, who originally threatened to sue Obama over any number of executive actions in areas ranging from immigration to international prisoner swaps.

Some conservatives have argued that getting standing to argue their case -- the victory won Wednesday -- would be the toughest hurdle to mount.