Justice Department seeks to speed hearing to get rid of ACA

Kelly Gooch -

The U.S. Justice Department has filed a motion to expedite oral arguments in a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the ACA, according to a Politico report.

The department filed the motion April 8 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, where the case is pending.

President Donald Trump’s administration asks for oral arguments to begin the week of July 8, and other parties in the case have not opposed that proposal, according to the report.

At issue is an appeal of a Texas judge's ruling that the entire federal health law be invalidated.

The federal lower court judge in December sided with the Republican-led states that brought the lawsuit, Texas v. United States. Plaintiffs argue that the tax law signed by President Donald Trump in December 2017, which eliminated the law's individual mandate penalties, made the mandate unconstitutional and the rest of the ACA invalid.

The Justice Department previously said it wouldn't defend major provisions of the ACA and argued that the act's protections for people with preexisting conditions can't be separated from the mandate and should be invalidated. However, the department announced March 25 that it supports striking down the entire health law.

 

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