The Obama executive action Republicans don't seem to mind

By Nicole Duran, Nicole Duran

Published December 20, 2015

If President Obama issues a directive and Republicans don't object, is it still executive overreach?

Obama on Monday issued an executive order instructing the Office of Personnel Management to "ban the box" on job applications, thereby prohibiting government agencies from initially asking would-be government employees if they have a criminal past. And Republicans were silent.

Overhauling the nation's criminal justice system is becoming the biggest bipartisan effort on a major issue since the failed 2013 effort to change the nation's immigration laws.

Eight senators came together last month to introduce and push through the Senate Judiciary Committee the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015. None of the four Republican sponsors of that bill objected to Obama's moves Monday, which included making it easier for ex-cons to qualify for public housing.