‘The ACA is safe’: Justice Kavanaugh stuns legal experts by suggesting he will save Obamacare
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November 10, 2020 | 11:47AM ETPush NotificationSupreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday suggested that he could be the deciding vote in favor of saving former President Barack Obama's signature health care law.
During oral arguments about the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, Kavanaugh hinted that the provision could be struck down without invalidating the entire law.
"I tend to agree with you that this is a very straightforward case for severability under our precedents meaning that we would excise the mandate and leave the rest of the act in place," Kavanaugh said.
"That strikes me as the ballgame," Supreme Court expert Ian Millhiser noted on Twitter.
Read some of the reactions to Kavanaugh's remarks below.
!!!! Brett Kavanaugh says it’s a “straightforward case” under court’s precedent that you’d normally just cut out th… https://t.co/x0pTOABugQ— Paul McLeod (@Paul McLeod) 1605023658
Kavanaugh: I tend to agree with you on this is a very straightforward case for severability under our precedents me… https://t.co/P0G5iDiXLz— Samantha Liss (@Samantha Liss) 1605023664
Kavanaugh seems to endorse argument that the mandate is no longer constitutional bc it can't be a tax if it raises… https://t.co/1eXaVYUgjh— Alice Miranda Ollstein (@Alice Miranda Ollstein) 1605023680
Kavanaugh giving pro-ACA side a big reason to exhale here: "I tend to agree with you that this is a very straightfo… https://t.co/k4E1nbb6xG— Mike Sacks (@Mike Sacks) 1605023693
Kavanaugh acknowledges that this is a straightforward case with respect to severability -- that there's a presumpti… https://t.co/47qWk6PaV5— Miranda Yaver, PhD (@Miranda Yaver, PhD) 1605023696
Big comment from Kavanaugh just now: "I tend to agree with you" that the case is "very straightforward" under our s… https://t.co/hTjjSulSe9— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) 1605023713
Kavanaugh on SEVERABILITY indicates not likely to vote to strike whole law down in exchange with Dem lawyer Verrill… https://t.co/VEGsWLIZPD— Lawrence Hurley (@Lawrence Hurley) 1605023763
Justice Kavanaugh seems to agree the individual mandate could be severable, meaning the rest of the ACA would be sa… https://t.co/axw3sumxwX— Zack Ford (@Zack Ford) 1605023764
Alleged attempted rapist Brett Kavanaugh just suggested he's willing to save the ACA. He said he "tends to agree" t… https://t.co/sr8tSyaKJW— Elie Mystal (@Elie Mystal) 1605023875
Brett Kavanaugh just said “I tend to agree” that the ACA’s (zeroed out) individual mandate can be severed from the… https://t.co/FCFUOgJZgy— Mark Joseph Stern (@Mark Joseph Stern) 1605023704
This is something many court observers expected from Kavanaugh — in recent opinions he'd already shown sympathy to… https://t.co/mk133F6nH0— Sarah Kliff (@Sarah Kliff) 1605023936
Big moment just now in today's Obamacare argument: Justice Kavanaugh says this is a "very straightforward case for… https://t.co/yMpgHZRPQA— Kevin Daley 🏛 (@Kevin Daley 🏛) 1605023955
It's a big plot twist if Justice Kavanaugh becomes the one to save the Obama health law https://t.co/kqvtNLT7vQ— Jamie Dupree (@Jamie Dupree) 1605023988
Justice Kavanaugh.......... welcome to the Resistance https://t.co/lv6HYKVe1x— Eric Renner Brown (@Eric Renner Brown) 1605023990
