Obama mocks House GOP lawsuit

President Obama mocked House Republicans Thursday for approving a lawsuit challenging his use of executive action and said it wouldn’t deter him from using his powers to advance his agenda.

“It’s not very productive, but it’s not going to stop me from doing what I think needs to be done in order to help families all across the country,” Obama said.

{mosads}His remarks came as he signed the latest in a string of executive orders designed to boost workplace conditions, in lieu of congressional action on items ranging from the minimum wage to paid family leave.

“Think about how much further along we’d be if Congress would do its job,” Obama said, noting that “the big event last night,” the House vote, addressed neither those issues, nor the growing immigration crisis on the southwest border.

“They got together in the House of Representatives — the Republicans — and voted to sue me for taking the actions that we are doing to help families,” the president said.

The lawsuit, authorized Wednesday along a party-line vote, is a direct response to GOP frustration with Obama’s wide-ranging use of executive power.

Republicans have been particularly angry over Obama’s decision to ignore several deadlines in the Affordable Care Act, including the “employer mandate,” the law’s requirement that companies offer healthcare or pay fines.

Obama lamented that Republicans had criticized that very provision, and the delay was meant to help the private sector comply.

“Man,” Obama said, pausing for laughs. “So they criticized a provision, we modify it to make it easier for businesses to transition — and that’s the basis for their suit.”

Obama said the move could be brushed off as a “harmless political stunt,” except that it wastes the public’s time, and taxpayers are on the hook for the cost of the lawsuit.