Biden DOJ reverses Trump-era position

The Justice Department informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it no longer considers Obamacare to be unconstitutional, the ministry’s last reversal since President Joe Biden was inaugurated in January.

The Supreme Court is considering challenging Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, by Texas and other Republican-led states. The Justice Department under former President Donald Trump backed Texas in legal notes and in November pleas.

California and other blue states defend the law, among which 20 million Americans have received health care coverage.

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

The turnaround of the Biden Justice Department was expected. Biden was instrumental in shepherding the monumental legislation through Congress in 2010, while serving as vice president under then-President Barack Obama.

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

The Supreme Court previously affirmed the individual mandate as lawful under the tax powers of Congress. After Republicans in Congress set the fine at $ 0 in 2017, Texas raised its challenge, arguing that the mandate was no longer a tax.

The Justice Department under Trump agreed that the mandate was unconstitutional. The department also argued that if the Supreme Court were to scrap the individual mandate, it should scrap the entire Affordable Care Act.

Kneedler wrote that under Biden, the Justice Department reversed its position on both questions. The division, he wrote, believes that the individual mandate’s determination is lawful and that if the court finds it not, the provision can be removed while the rest of the act stands.

During the pleadings in the case, it seemed unlikely that the judges would repeal the legislation completely, although it was not clear whether a majority would find the individual mandate illegal. Chief Justice John Roberts and Judge Brett Kavanaugh, both Conservatives, suggested they were in favor of separating the individual mandate provision from the rest of the expansive law.

Kneedler, who has served in the Justice Department for over 40 years under chairpersons of both major political parties, wrote in the letter that the ministry was not trying to submit more information on the case. A decision is expected in the summer.