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• New House rules to allow Democrats to defend Obamacare

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  • CONGRESS
  • SUPREME COURT
  • 2018 ELECTION RESULTS
  New House rules to allow Democrats to defend Obamacare

  

  By Tami Luhby, CNN

  Updated 1:40 PM ET, Wed January 2, 2019

  

   

  
  

  Collins: I think Obamacare ruling will be overturned 01:54

  (CNN)House Democrats are moving quickly to defend the Affordable Care Act once they retake control of the chamber Thursday.

  As part of its rules package for the 116th Congress, the party is granting itself authorization to intervene in the lawsuit that threatens to bring down the landmark health reform law. It directs the House's Office of General Counsel to represent lawmakers in any litigation involving the act and authorizes hiring of outside counsel.

  The House is expected to vote in the coming days on the rules package, which the majority party -- now the Democrats -- adopts at the start of a new Congress.

  

  Democrats head into 2019 divided on how to fix health care

  Supporting the Affordable Care Act, including its popular provisions that protect those with pre-existing conditions, helped Democrats retake the House in the midterm elections in November. Since then, the party's leaders have repeatedly said they will swiftly work to uphold the law.

  A federal judge in Texas last month ruled that the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, is unconstitutional because Congress eliminated the individual mandate penalty by reducing it to $0, starting this year. This rendered the mandate itself unconstitutional and the rest of the law therefore cannot stand. Earlier this week, District Judge Reed O'Connor issued an order saying that the act can remain in effect pending appeal.

  The Trump administration is not defending Obamacare, prompting a coalition of Democratic states to step in. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is leading the coalition, plans to appeal O'Connor's ruling.

  

  Judge says Affordable Care Act will remain in effect during appeal

  The move to intervene, however, is largely symbolic. Some Affordable Care Act supporters say that Democratic lawmakers would be better off passing legislation to address the lawsuit.

  

  Nicholas Bagley

  ✔@nicholas_bagley

  Replying to @nicholas_bagley

  Intervening, for its part, is unnecessary (because California and other blue states have already intervened), unlawful (because one house of Congress almost certainly lacks standing to sue), and wasteful (because lawyers).

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  7:05 AM - Jan 2, 2019

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  For instance, Congress could nullify the basis of the judge's decision by raising the penalty amount or declaring the individual mandate severable from the rest of the law, University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley and Richard Primus argued in The Atlantic last month.

  CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to identify when lawmakers return to the US House of Representatives. New members are sworn in on Thursday.