In between the commotion crashing planes and unsuccessful ceasefires in Gaza, you might have missed the big piece of news that is the approval for a lawsuit against the President. Impeachment talk now aside, the House has passed a measure allowing Speaker of the House, John Boehner, to sue Obama. Here's why turning to the judicial might actually hurt the GOP more than help.

Conservatives have been making an effort to oust President Barack Obama since the day he took office: disputes over his birth certificate, attacks on government bailouts, arguments surrounding executive overreach, and many more allegedly impeachable issues have been brought against the liberal President. However, with the 2016 elections right around the corner, this focus on impeachment and judicial action, may have the opposite effect on voters that conservatives are hoping for.

When it comes to impeachment, the bottom line is that there haven’t been any actions made by the President that would reach the “high crimes and misdemeanor levels” required to merit removal from office. Impeachment is a constitutional option used, but sparingly, by Congress. Nixon resigned under the threat of impeachment during Watergate, and Clinton barely made it through his term after the Monica Lewinsky ordeal. So what has Obama done that’s worthy of actually being impeached? Nothing, as even most Republicans agree. While the right wing may be unhappy with the President’s recent actions, they would never achieve the necessary political conditions needed to convict Obama, if the House passed articles of impeachment.   

After realizing that impeachment would not only be impossible, but would also reflect poorly on their party, the GOP has decided to sue Obama for failing to implement the employer mandate in his Affordable Health Care Act. The lawsuit will, inevitably, be tossed out of federal court on procedural grounds, since there is no way that the House will be able to allege, let alone prove, any distinctive injury to itself or its members. Like talks of impeachment, the action will achieve nothing more than giving Democrats more to work with. For example, Republicans insisting on the immediate implementation of an employer mandate that they so strongly oppose, has already enabled Democrats to ridicule the whole situation as a political stunt.  

There are far more effects from these actions that reflect back negatively on the GOP. Talks of impeachment by overzealous conservatives, such as Iowa Representative Steve King, and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, are allowing Democrats to portray Republicans as irrational, extremist, and out of touch with everyday Americans. The lawsuit has allowed Democrats to attack the legislation as a waste of taxpayer’s time and money. Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi said at a press conference, “We don’t have money to have early-childhood education for our children, but we do have money to sue the president.” Obama has echoed this criticism, telling the crowd at a speech in Kansas City, “…by the way, you know who's paying for this suit they're going to file? You."   

Motions to impeach the President and to sue him for “failure to fairly execute the law,” may get some hesitant to vote conservatives to the polls come next November, but attempts at impeachment will, most likely, result in greater political benefit to the Democrats. Democratic fundraising has had significant success from this impeachment situation in recent weeks, with over $7.6 million raised online by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, since Boehner announced plans of a lawsuit. Rep. Steve Israel of New York, who heads the Committee, explained that Democrats plan to use Congress' actions to support Obama’s 2016 re-election campaign, stating that, "You bet we're going to run on a Congress that is just obsessed with lawsuits, suing the President, talking about impeaching him instead of solutions for the middle class, talking about jobs and infrastructure.”   

While Republicans attempt to explain to voters the fine line that makes suing the president an appropriate action, but impeaching him not, Democrats are taking advantage of this situation to show how hard it is to draw such a line. With entirely unpredictable results, conservatives need to be wary of how drastic actions, such as these, so close to elections will resonate with constituents.