REACTION: Argument In Latest ACA Battle At The Supreme Court
SUPREME COURT PLAZA, Washington, DC – Following this morning’s argument in the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act, King v. Burwell, Constitutional Accountability Center issued the following reaction:
CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra said, “The context of the whole law is essential to resolving this case, and that principle was made clear in today’s argument. If the Court follows its own precedents that govern the reading of statutes, the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits should be available nationwide.” Wydra continued, “Justice Kennedy’s questions underscored the federalism implications of a decision stripping individuals of tax credits. As our brief, as well as the brief filed by Virginia and more than 20 other states make clear, no state understood the ACA to operate in the way that the King plaintiffs argue, at the time the statute was enacted. Argument this morning underscored the absurdity of the King plaintiffs’ interpretation of the ACA, which is less about the law, and more about the ‘never-ending saga,’ as Justice Kagan put it, of opposition to Obamacare.”
CAC Senior Counsel Simon Lazarus added, “It was remarkable that the attorney for the King plaintiffs really had no answer to the core argument of the Administration: that the text of the whole Affordable Care Act — when read in context — says that tax credits are available in all states.”
#
Additional Resources:
Experts available for interviews: Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra, Senior Counsel Simon Lazarus, Appellate Counsel Brianne Gorod.
* “Five myths about King v. Burwell,” CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra, Washington Post, Wednesday, February 26, 2015: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-king-v-burwell/2015/02/26/a1f8472e-ad8e-11e4-abe8-e1ef60ca26de_story.html
* “The Letter of the Law,” CAC Senior Counsel Simon Lazarus, Democracy Journal, March 2015: http://www.democracyjournal.org/35/the-letter-of-the-law.php?page=all
* “Obamacare should win in court,” CAC Appellate Counsel Brianne Gorod, Los Angeles Times, February 26, 2015: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0227-gorod-obamacare-scotus-20150225-story.html
* “Have some GOP lawmakers flip-flopped on Obamacare and subsidies?,” Glen Kessler (Fact Checker), Washington Post, Wednesday, February 18, 2015: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/02/18/have-some-gop-lawmakers-flip-flopped-on-obamacare-and-subsidies
* Brief of CAC on behalf of Members of Congress and state legislatures: http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/King_Amicus_Brief.pdf
* Brief of Virginia and more than 20 other states in King v. Burwell:
##
Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.
###