Supreme Court Seems to Side With ObamaCare in Hearing

The Supreme Court appears to be siding with ObamaCare in today’s hearing, as most comments from the Justices implied ObamaCare should be able to stand without the mandate.^[1]

Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins, who argued against ObamaCare, tried to make the claim that the mandate (which was reduced to $0 in 2019 due to previous actions by Congress) was “inseverable” from ObamaCare.

However, the Justices pushed back on that logic.

For example, Kavanaugh said there is a “very straightforward case” for severability under the court’s precedents, and Roberts said, “I think it’s hard for you to argue that Congress intended the entire act to fall if the mandate was struck down when the same Congress that lowered the penalty to zero did not even try to repeal the rest of the act,” Roberts said to Hawkins. “I think frankly, they wanted the court to do that. But that’s not our job.”

In other words, it appears that the Supreme Court is making the case that the “inseverability” argument won’t result in the law being struck down in court, which implies that ObamaCare will stand when it comes time for the Court to make a final ruling.

1. Supreme Court Signals Obamacare Will Stand. usanews.com.