Washington, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court revealed this morning that it has not yet decided whether to hear King v. Burwell, part of the latest legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act.  In the King case, as well as a similar case now pending before the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit – Halbig v. Burwell – Constitutional Accountability Center represents Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and other key leaders in Congress as well as state legislatures when the ACA was drafted, passed, and implemented. CAC issued the following reaction to this morning’s news: 

CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra said, “The Court today has withheld making a decision on whether to take up this last-ditch challenge to the Affordable Care Act. The Court could ‘hold’ the case, perhaps waiting for the D.C. Circuit to conclude its en banc consideration of a similar case, Halbig v. Burwell.  Or the Court could ‘relist’ the King petition to another conference, waiting for another day in the near future to issue a final decision to either deny or grant certiorari. The Court normally discusses pending cases in conferences two or three times per month on Friday mornings, and issues any orders in those cases the following Monday.  If it follows its usual practice, the Court should deny review and allow the issue to percolate in the lower courts.”

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Resources:                                                                                                                                                                                                           

*  “Friend of the court” briefs on behalf of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, former Senator Max Baucus, and other Members of Congress and state legislatures at the time the Affordable Care Act was drafted and passed:

—  King v. Burwell: 

http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/King_v_Sebelius_CAC_Amicus_Final.pdf 

—  Halbig v. Burwell: http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/Halbig-Amicus-Legislator-CAC.pdf 

*  “Affordable Care Act opponents are cherry-picking their history,” Tom Harkin, Ron Wyden, Sander M. Levin, George Miller and Henry A. Waxman (all CAC clients except for Sen. Wyden), Washington Post, October 30, 2014: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/affordable-care-act-opponents-are-cherry-picking-their-history/2014/10/30/2199a04e-5fac-11e4-91f7-5d89b5e8c251_story.html 

*  “Not a Difficult Decision: Why the Court Shouldn’t Grant Cert. in King v. Burwell,” Brianne Gorod (CAC Appellate Counsel), October 27, 2014: http://balkin.blogspot.com/2014/10/not-difficult-decision-why-court.html 

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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.

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