Cornyn: Obama’s ‘faceless, nameless bureaucracy’ ignoring numerous laws

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) took to the Senate floor Tuesday to excoriate the Obama administration’s regulatory policies, accusing the White House of ignoring laws and ruling by “executive fiat.”

On healthcare, the environment, immigration and labor issues, the administration has repeatedly acted unilaterally – often directly against the wishes of Congress – to pursue its policy agenda, the Texas Republican charged in a heated speech to a mostly empty chamber. 

“This administration has frequently relied on unelected bureaucrats to override the peoples’ elected representatives,” Cornyn said. “Taken together, all of these measured represent a basic contempt for the rule of law.”

The remarks come as the Senate prepares to vote on Obama nominees to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Labor Relations Board that Cornyn and other congressional Republicans say were appointed unconstitutionally.

He also pointed to the administration’s decision last year to abruptly stop deporting certain illegal immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program following the failure of the DREAM Act, which called for similar actions.

“When Congress failed to pass legislation that the president wanted, the president himself simply decided not to enforce the immigration laws,” said Cornyn, who argued that Obama’s executive overreach extends also to environmental issues.

“Indeed the president has now authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate virtually every aspect of the American economy,” he continued.

“They get to vote us out of office if they see fit,” Cornyn said, referring to members of Congress. “That’s not true with this faceless, nameless bureaucracy, which is rarely held accountable. “