By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Congresswoman Martha Roby (R) from Montgomery said on Thursday that this nation is governed by the rule of law, and no one, not event the president, is above it. Rep. Roby referenced a decision by federal Appeals Judge Brett Cavanaugh in her Facebook comments.
Representative Roby said, “A well-known former constitutional law professor got an education in constitutional law from a federal judge this week. In a rare writ of mandamus from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Brett Kavanaugh sums it up: “the President may not decline to follow a statutory mandate or prohibition simply because of policy objections.” ”
The conservative congresswoman said, “An important and badly-needed ruling in light of the Obama Administration’s tendency to pick and choose which laws to enforce. This nation is governed by the rule of law, and no one, not even the president, is above it.”
The writ of mandamus was issued by a three judge panel in a 2-1 decision regarding President Obama’s refusal to open the Yucca Mountain repository for nuclear waste. Whether we should store spent nuclear materials for the next millennium at Yucca Mountain is still an ongoing discussion with merits on both sides; but what is not open for debate is that the President and federal regulators at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are simply choosing to ignore existing congressional statutes on this matter without amending existing law……a practice that conservative critics charge that the Obama administration has repeatedly practiced on immigration, the environment, the budget, gay marriage, and other issues.
Congresswoman Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District. This is her second term in the United States Congress. Rep. Roby served on the Montgomery City Council before unseating incumbent Bobbie Bright (D) for the Republican leaning seat in 2010.
