Biden administration asks Supreme Court to save Obamacare, flipping Trump arguments

[pppolitics]

(CNN) — The Biden administration told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it should uphold the Affordable Care Act, reversing the position of the Trump administration that had urged the justices to strike down the entire law amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"Following the change in Administration, the Department of Justice has reconsidered the government's position," Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler told the court in a letter Wednesday. The United States "no longer adheres to the conclusions" in a brief filed by the Trump administration.

Kneedler said the federal government now maintains that the individual mandate is constitutional but even if the court disagrees it should sever the mandate and allow the rest of the sprawling law to stand. Such a move would maintain the status quo, as the penalty associated with the mandate has been brought down to zero.

The case was argued on November 10 and is currently before the justices, with a decision expected by July.

[...]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/politics/affordable-care-act-obamacare-biden-supreme-court/index.html

[brucejoel99]

This'll have no effect on the justices, apart from maybe irritating them with a procedural change of course. It was already blatantly obvious that a nominal $0 mandate would be ruled severable from the rest of the ACA, so the lawsuit was already all-but-dead anyway.

[Splash]

I am pretty sure that Congress could render this case moot by raising the penalty for the individual mandate from $0 to something nominal, like $10. In fact, they should be able to do it in the reconciliation package they are crafting right now.

[Beet]

The mandate wasn't working and it's obvious that no one has the political will to make it large enough to change that. Biden should just abandon it rather than chaining himself and his party to the law's most unpopular face.

In general I agree, but as a tactical matter the administration should do everything in its power to minimize the small chance that the new SCOTUS throws the entire law out, and if arguing in favor of the mandate is a brick in that wall, then I have no problem with him doing it.

[sguberman]

How do you guys think the vote will go? I think the liberals + Roberts + Kavanaugh uphold it at least.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

The mandate wasn't working and it's obvious that no one has the political will to make it large enough to change that. Biden should just abandon it rather than chaining himself and his party to the law's most unpopular face.

In general I agree, but as a tactical matter the administration should do everything in its power to minimize the small chance that the new SCOTUS throws the entire law out, and if arguing in favor of the mandate is a brick in that wall, then I have no problem with him doing it.

If they just repeal the mandate altogether, then the case will be moot, and plenty of Republicans will be willing to go along with that vote.