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The Affordable Care Act takes center stage as Biden plans a speech to advocate for maintaining and improving the law
The Affordable Care Act takes center stage Tuesday in oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court as President Donald Trump continues to refuse to grant the election and the United States Congress returns to work on a poor session.
What is at stake in the higher court is a question of “severability,” or whether the “individual mandate” of the ACA can be struck down as unconstitutional or whether the entire statute should fall.
The court has a new conservative majority, 6-3 after the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Lawyers for the Trump administration argue that the entire law should be declared unconstitutional.
Barrett noted during her confirmation hearings that she is open to arguing about severability and Chief Justice John Roberts has ruled in the past that the court should use a “scalpel” and not a “bulldozer.”
If the court repeals the entire law, it would remove its mandate for private health insurers to provide coverage for pre-existing conditions, which could affect more than 100 million people. Some 20 million are likely to lose health insurance entirely.
Democrat Joe Biden, the winner of the US presidential election, plans to deliver a speech Tuesday on the imperative to uphold the health law as the nation battles the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden rejected the “Medicare for all” proposal championed during the Democratic primary by socialist candidate Bernie Sanders. Instead, Biden proposes adding a “public option” to the Affordable Care Act market system, allowing Americans the option to purchase Medicare.
Meanwhile, Trump White House officials have instructed top administration officials to block cooperation with Biden’s transition team, according to a report in The Washington Post.
A supporter of the Affordable Care Act rallies outside the US Supreme Court as the court hears oral arguments in the latest Republican challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) [Michael Reynolds/ EPA-EFE]
Emily Murphy, director of the General Services Administration, declined to provide $ 6.3 million in funding for Biden’s transition and denied Biden’s team access to agency officials and information.
The White House has told US agency heads to ignore the election results as reported by the media and instead wait for official word from the government, according to the report.
Biden is weighing legal action over the GSA’s delay in recognizing his projected victory, a Biden transition official told reporters in a call Monday.
The Trump campaign and the Republican Party allege ballot fraud in key states where Biden won, with little evidence. The cases the campaign has brought up so far have been largely dismissed.
BE OBSERVING THE MASSIVE ABUSE OF TICKET COUNTING AND, LIKE THE EARLY VACCINE, REMEMBER I TOLD YOU!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2020
Trump and Republicans filed lawsuits against election officials in Detroit, Michigan and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday. Counts are expected in Wisconsin and Georgia.
Attorney General Bill Barr has authorized the Justice Department to investigate any “substantial allegations” of voter fraud that could “affect the outcome” of the 2020 elections, The Associated Press news service reported Monday night.
The United States Senate is working again with Republicans and Democrats who meet separately at their caucus lunches to elect leaders. Republican Mitch McConnell and Democrat Chuck Schumer were reelected.
Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the “Crossfire Hurricane” bureau investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The Senate remains in Republican control at least until two runoff races are decided in Georgia in January.
The outcome of the two Georgia races, in which Democrats challenge Republicans in power, will determine whether Republicans would have a majority and the ability to block Biden’s agenda in the first two years of his presidency.
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