No matter how many times legal experts declare the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act safe, another lawsuit finds its way into the courts.
A Wednesday ruling from a federal judge gives PPACA opponents hope that there may in fact be a way to undo — or at least inflict serious harm on — President Obama's signature domestic policy.
U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, an appointee of President George W. Bush, ruled that Republicans in the House of Representatives have legal standing to pursue the suit, which asserts that some of the money the Obama administration is spending on the law is unconstitutional because it was never authorized by Congress.
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The spending refers specifically to $175 billion the administration has been paying to insurance companies as part of the law's cost-sharing provisions to reduce deductibles and co-pays. The administration has asked for Congress to appropriate the money, but it has never been authorized.
Collyer emphasized in her ruling that she was not opining on the merits of the case or suggesting that it was likely to succeed. Her only ruling concerned whether members of Congress have standing to sue the administration over their claims.
Republicans are nevertheless celebrating the ruling as vindication of their claims that the law was an illegal power grab by the president.
"I am grateful to the Court for ruling that this historic overreach can be challenged by the coequal branch of government with the sole power to create or change the law," House Speaker John Boehner, OH, said in a statement.
A representative of the Justice Department told The Hill the administration plans to appeal the ruling, and that the lawsuit was baseless.
"This case is just another partisan attack, and we believe that ultimately the courts will dismiss it for what it is — an inappropriate attempt to involve the judiciary in disputes between the other branches," spokeswoman Jen Friedman told The Hill.
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