Biden DOJ reverses the position of the Trump era

The Justice Department on Wednesday notified the Supreme Court that it no longer considers Obamacare unconstitutional, the department’s latest overthrow since President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January.

The Supreme Court is considering a challenge to Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act, introduced by Texas and other Republican-led states. Former President Donald Trump’s Justice Department backed Texas in legal briefs and in oral argument in November.

California and other blue states are defending the law, under which 20 million Americans have obtained health care coverage.

“Following the change of administration, the Department of Justice has reconsidered the government’s position in these cases,” wrote Edwin Kneedler, Deputy Solicitor General, in a letter to Scott Harris, the clerk of the Supreme Court.

The overthrow of Biden’s Justice Department was expected. Biden was instrumental in driving the monumental legislation through Congress in 2010 while also serving as vice president under then-President Barack Obama.

The case concerns Obamacare’s individual tenure provision, which requires most Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty.

The Supreme Court previously upheld the individual mandate as legal under the taxing powers of Congress. After Republicans in Congress set the penalty at $ 0 in 2017, Texas issued its challenge, arguing that the mandate was no longer a tax.

The Justice Department under Trump agreed the mandate was unconstitutional. The ministry also argued that if the Supreme Court struck down the individual mandate, it must strike down the entire Affordable Care Act.

Kneedler wrote that the Justice Department under Biden reversed its stance on both issues. The ministry, he wrote, believes the individual retainer provision is legal and if the court finds it is not, the provision can be removed while the rest of the law remains in force. .

As the case is pleaded, judges are unlikely to abandon the legislation altogether, although it is unclear whether a majority would find the individual mandate illegal. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, both Conservatives, have suggested they support separating the individual mandate provision from the rest of the sprawling law.

Kneedler, who served in the Justice Department for more than 40 years under the chairmen of the two main political parties, wrote in the letter that the department was not seeking to file more briefs in the case. A decision is expected this summer.