Goodlatte not working on Obama impeachment

President Obama has not committed “the type of criminal acts” that would lead to impeachment proceedings, House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said Sunday.

{mosads}“We are not working on or drawing up articles of impeachment,” Goodlatte told ABC News. “The Constitution is very clear as to what constitutes grounds of impeachment for the president of the United States. He has not committed the kind of criminal acts that call for that.”

Last week, some Republicans — including former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin — suggested that the GOP should attempt to impeach the president over his use of executive action. Any articles of impeachment would originate in Goodlatte’s Judiciary Committee.

The Virginia Republican did blast Obama for “not enforcing the law,” and said he supported efforts by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to sue the president for his decision to delay the employer mandate provision in ObamaCare. Goodlatte also pinned the current crisis at the border on the president’s deferred action program, which allows certain minors who entered the U.S. illegally to remain as adults. Those crossing the border currently are ineligible for the program.

“He doesn’t enforce law,” Goodlatte said. “He uses the concept of prosecutorial discretion, which is intended for that limited exceptional case, to apply to hundreds of thousands of people right now.”

Goodlatte did offer conditional support for part of the $3.7 billion emergency spending request the president unveiled last week to address the flood of migrant children at the border.

“Yes, we should do targeted appropriations where its needed to make sure we are able to detain people and send them back to their countries,” Goodlatte said.

But the Virginia lawmaker said “most of the money the president is asking for is to continue the process of further transporting these children, and adults by the way, further into the United States” — something he does not support.

Obama’s supplemental includes $1.8 billion for the Health and Human Services Department to be able to house the children while they are awaiting immigration court hearings.

“That is not deterrence and it will result in more people coming into the United States,” Goodlatte said.