The Wall Street Journal reports:
After being buffeted by Republican victories in the 2010 midterm elections, White House aides saw education as ripe for bipartisan cooperation. Both parties wanted to address complaints about the No Child Left Behind law. Congress seemed prepared to act.
But while the White House talked up cooperation in public, in private it was preparing Plan B. In December that year, Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned top Democrats that if Congress didn't act, the administration would use executive authority to essentially rewrite the law on its own.
There's more:
Mr. Obama also has used executive power to undercut laws that he opposes. For instance, the president has long advocated repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition for same-sex marriage. In early 2011, he declared his administration would no longer defend the statute in court, departing from the executive's traditional role of defending laws passed by Congress.
Just a reminder to modern day liberals: what if a future President channels their "inner Obama" and "forgets" to defend in court New Deal statutes like the minimum wage?
