Cuccinelli
VERONA, Va. (Legal Newsline) - Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is once again criticizing President Barack Obama's administration.
This time, his comments came at a Republican picnic on Saturday sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who represents Virginia's Sixth District.
"They have complete disdain for the rule of law," Cuccinelli said of the administration, according to the News Virginian.
The attorney general pointed to its attitude on the environment and health care.
Cuccinelli is one of many to challenge Obama's federal health care law.
The attorney general said earlier this month that he would appeal a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that said he did not have legal standing to challenge the reform, signed into law last year.
"The Founding Fathers fully intended that the states would serve as a check on federal power. When the Fourth Circuit ruled that Virginia lacked standing to defend a duly enacted state law from federal preemption, it took away much of the states' ability to serve that function," Cuccinelli said.
The attorney general's case said the law interfered with a state law that said individuals do not have to purchase health insurance. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson agreed before the Fourth Circuit overruled him.
The Fourth Circuit said the mandate does not affect the state of Virginia, so Cuccinelli had no standing to bring the suit. It said residents of Virginia are the only ones affected.
Also over the weekend, Cuccinelli was removed from his local GOP committee, the Washington Post reported.
Cuccinelli, U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and House Speaker Bill Howell all were removed.
According to the Post, any Republican who endorses Delegate Bill Janis is out. Janis, a Republican turned independent, is running for commonwealth's attorney in Henrico County next month.
The state GOP told the newspaper that any Republican who supports a non-Republican in a contested race will be removed from his or her local committee rolls.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.