WASHINGTON — Emboldened House Republicans issued a stern but symbolic rebuke to President Obama over immigration Thursday, passing a bill declaring his executive actions to curb deportations ‘‘null and void and without legal effect.’’
Outraged Democrats, immigrant advocates, and the White House said the GOP voted to tear families apart and eject parents.
‘‘Rather than deport students and separate families and make it harder for law enforcement to do its job, I just want the Congress to work with us to pass a common-sense law to fix that broken immigration system,’’ Obama said ahead of the vote.
Even supporters acknowledged the bill by Representative Ted Yoho, Republican of Florida, which says Obama acted ‘‘without any constitutional or statutory basis,’’ was mostly meant to send a message. It stands no chance in the Senate, which remains under Democratic control until January, and faces the veto threat from Obama.
The real fight could lie ahead as conservatives push to use must-pass spending legislation to block Obama.
For now, Republicans insisted they must go on record denouncing what they described on the House floor as an outrageous power grab by Obama.
Obama ‘‘thinks he can just sit in the Oval Office and make up his own laws. That’s not the way our system of government works,’’ said Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana. ‘‘This legislation says you can’t do that, Mr. President. There is a rule of law.’’
The vote was 219 to 197, with three Democratic ‘‘yes’’ votes and seven Republican ‘‘no’’ votes. Three Republicans voted ‘‘present.’’
Obama’s executive actions last month will extend deportation relief and work permits to some 4 million immigrants here illegally, mostly those who have been in the country more than five years and have children who are US citizens or legal permanent residents. He also reordered law enforcement priorities and expanded an existing deportation deferral program for immigrants brought illegally as kids.
WASHINGTON — A day after her nomination ran into trouble in the Senate, President Obama’s pick to lead the Social Security Administration passionately defended her integrity, her long career in government, and her handling of a troubled computer project she inherited from a predecessor.
‘‘I’ve always met the highest ethical standards,’’ Carolyn W. Colvin said Thursday. ‘‘I’ve worked in government my entire life. There’s never been a suggestion, personal or professional, of any wrongdoing.’’
‘‘I’m certainly not ending my career with that,’’ Colvin continued. ‘‘I came out of retirement to help this organization, not hurt it.’’
Obama nominated Colvin to a six-year term as commissioner of the agency in June. She has been acting commissioner since February 2013. Before that, she was the agency’s deputy commissioner since 2010.
A group of Republican senators plans to try to block Colvin’s nomination while investigators look into a $300 million computer project that does not work. In a letter to Colvin, all 11 Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee said there is evidence that Social Security officials have misled Congress and investigators about problems with the project.
The senators wrote that they cannot let a nomination proceed to a vote ‘‘as long as the specter of a potential criminal investigation surrounds the nominee,’’ that person’s inner circle, or both. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, top Republican on the Finance Committee, leads the group.
Six years ago, Social Security embarked on an aggressive plan to replace outdated computer systems overwhelmed by disability claims. But the project has been racked by delays and mismanagement, according to an assessment commissioned by the agency over the summer.
WASHINGTON — Many people covered under President Obama’s health care law will face higher premiums next year, the administration acknowledged Thursday. While the average increase is modest, it provides fodder for the political battles over health care.
Officials emphasized that millions of current HealthCare.gov customers can mitigate the financial hit if they are willing to shop around for another plan in a more competitive online marketplace. Subsidies will also help cushion the impact.
It currently takes an average of 30 minutes for returning customers to update coverage.
Premiums for the most popular type of plan are going up an average of 5 percent in 35 states where Washington is running the health insurance exchanges this year and will do so again in 2015, said a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. The modest average increases reported for 2015 mask bigger swings from state to state, and even within regions of a state. According to data released by the administration, some communities will still see double-digit hikes while others are seeing decreases. Most are somewhere in the middle.
Monthly premiums are one of the most important and politically sensitive yardsticks for Obama’s health care law, which offers subsidized private insurance to people who do not have access to coverage through their jobs. Sharper premium hikes were common before it passed.