US House of Reps vote to sue Obama

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives has voted to proceed with a lawsuit against President Barack Obama, on grounds of his executive actions being violative of the constitution, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The vote, which saw all Democrats vote against it, and all but five Republicans vote in favour, further added to the politically polarised environment of the US capital with both parties using the pending suit to try to rally support before November's mid-term elections.

Obama faces accusations of house speaker John Boehner and fellow Republicans of constitutional overreach.

"They're going to sue me for taking executive actions to help people. So they're mad I'm doing my job," he said in Kansas City, Missouri. "And by the way, I've told [Congress] I'd be happy to do it with you - the only reason I'm doing it on my own is because you're not doing anything.''

According to commentators, the upbeat  economic news is likely to weigh in the president's favour. The US commerce department said the US economy logged a seasonally-adjusted annual growth rate of 4 per cent for the three months to June, surpassing expectations.

Republicans maintain the lawsuit had become necessary to keep the president in constitutional check, after he allegedly exceeded his authority with unilateral changes to the Affordable Care Act, Fox News said.

According to democrats, the effort amounted to a political charade aimed at rallying GOP voters. They further added it was an effort by top Republicans to play up to the conservative factions who wanted to impeach Obama, something House Speaker John Boehner, Republican from Ohio, said he had no plans to do.

According to Boehner, the republicans had no plans to impeach the president and had no future plans. He added it was all a scam, started by Democrats at the White House.

After the vote, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden issued  a statement saying, ''President Obama swore an oath to uphold the Constitution-an oath he has not fully lived up to. Today, the House took an important step to defend the Constitution and hold the president accountable.''