GOP Bill Would Ban Supreme Court From Citing Its Own Obamacare Cases

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) hates Obamacare so much that he doesn’t even want the Supreme Court to cite its own major Obamacare cases in future opinions, according to a bill he introduced Tuesday.

The bill itself list the names of major lawsuits the Affordable Care Act has faced at the Supreme Court and bars them “from citation for the purpose of precedence in all future cases.”

“It was my first order of business on the morning after ObamaCare passed into law, March 24, 2010, to draft and introduce my full, 100% repeal of ObamaCare,” King said in a press release announcing the legislation. “By prohibiting the Supreme Court from citing ObamaCare cases, we will be truly eradicating this unconstitutional policy from all three branches of government so that the repeal will be complete.”

The bill claims that “Under Article 3, Section 2” Congress is allowed to “to provide exceptions and regulations for Supreme Court consideration of cases and controversies.”

The proposal had the health care law world “chuckling,” according to Timothy Jost, a health law specialist at the Washington and Lee University.

“He obviously hasn’t read these opinions,” Jost said. He pointed to National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius, which Jost said “contained very strong statements about state rights;” King v. Burwell, which “included language in which the court basically limited deference to administrative agencies;” and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which “was all about religious liberty.”

“These are three precedents that one would think Representative King would affirm very strongly,” Jost said.