White House: Justice Department Will Respond To Court’s Order On Health Care

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White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday that the Department of Justice “will be responding to the request for a letter” by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals about President Obama’s remarks.

Carney dismissed the notion that Obama was questioning whether the Supreme Court could strike down laws that it deems unconstitutional, the subject of the the letter the court demanded. He pointed out that the president was merely arguing that his health care reform law gibes with longstanding precedent.

“What the president said both yesterday and the day before was — what he did was make an unremarkable observation about 80 years of Supreme Court history,” he said. “Since the 1930s, the Supreme Court has without exception deferred to congress when it comes to Congress’ authority to pass legislation to regulate matters of national economic importance such as healthcare. Eighty years plus. That is an observation and not a particularly remarkable one. It is a statement of fact.”

Watch the video of Carney’s remarks at Wednesday’s daily briefing.

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