Long-Shot Obamacare Lawsuit Gets New Life

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You’ve heard this tune before: Legally suspect Obamacare lawsuit brought by health care reform dead-enders suddenly finds receptive federal judges and turns into real live threat to the biggest social justice reform of the last half century.

Here we go again.

Today a federal district judge in Washington, DC, ruled that the House of Representatives has standing to sue the Obama administration over Obamacare. At issue in the lawsuit is whether the administration exceeded its constitutional powers by allocating certain Obamacare funding without Congress having specifically appropriated that money. This is the case where Jonathan Turley is in the somewhat surprising position of representing the House.

The judge today decided that the House can sue to adjudicate whether the executive branch usurped the legislative branch’s powers of the purse. The hearing before the judge a few weeks ago did not go well for the government, so today’s decision isn’t a shock.

It remains an open question whether an adverse ruling on the merits would truly cripple Obamacare, as opposed to merely hurting recipients of some of Obamacare’s benefits.

Here’s today’s decision:

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