Judge Obamacare judges unconstitutional, Democrats stand up and Republicans stay home: NPR

The HealthCare.gov website is visible on a laptop computer in May 2017. On Friday, a federal court judge ruled that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional.

Alex Brandon / AP

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Alex Brandon / AP

The HealthCare.gov website is visible on a laptop computer in May 2017. On Friday, a federal court judge ruled that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional.

Alex Brandon / AP

President Trump announced Friday the decision to repeal the Affordable Care Act "Great news for America!" Democratic lawmakers rushed to denounce the decision, calling it " monstrous " and " harmful ", but Republican lawmakers remained largely silent on Saturday.

US. Judge Reed O'Connor, of the District Court, explained that his decision had been made on a 2017 congressional tax bill, which removed the penalty for people who did not buy from the city. 39, health insurance.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – who was leading the lawsuit – celebrated the decision on Twitter with three exclamation points : "BREAK: A federal judge makes the decision Obamacare unconstitutional !! ! "But the Texan Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn as well as Gov. Gregg Abbott did not mention it. None of their offices responded to NPR requests for comment on Saturday morning.

In addition, none of the Republican governors of the 20 states cited as complainants noted the decision on their Twitter accounts.

Alison Kodjak, of NPR, reported. Weekend Edition the decision puts GOP lawmakers in a delicate position. Republicans have repeatedly tried "to repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act in 2017, but many have run their mid-term election campaign this year by promising protections for people with mental health problems. a pre-existing condition – a central element of the Affordable Care Act.

In the meantime, the federal government has had to respond to the delicate moment of the judge's decision on the eve of last day of registration open. for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. "The court's decision does not affect the open registration of this season," reads a red banner on HealthCare.gov. Seema Verma, who oversees Medicare and Medicaid, has used Twitter to spread the same message.

The Affordable Care Act remains popular. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey conducted last month found that 53% of adults had a positive opinion of Obamacare. And various aspects of the law have been upheld by the US Supreme Court. Democrats vowed to appeal Friday's decision, which could put the law back on the road to judges in Washington, DC

In a statement, Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Called it "absurd" Mr. O Connor's "Decision" defies the law as written and as a precedent of the Supreme Court. "Unable to repeal the Affordable Financial Protection Act in Congress, Republicans have turned to conservative judges to try to do the job "

Governor John Belund, John Bel Edwards, has put his own Attorney General, Jeff Landry, to the task on Twitter. Landry is one of the attorneys general of the Republican state who helped bring the case to the ACA.

One of Landry's colleagues in this effort, the Attorney General of Kansas, Derek Schmidt, applauds the court's ruling statement released Friday, saying it "reaffirms the important principle that our Constitution protects freedom by limiting the power of the federal government."

Anticipating perhaps the anger of some, the judge O'Connor opened it by acknowledging

"The American health care system affects millions of lives in a daily and deeply personal way. Medicare is therefore a politically charged affair that ignites emotions and puts civility to the test ".