A federal appeals court has granted the Department of Justice’s request to pause a case that could undo Obamacare as the government’s partial shutdown heads into its 21st day.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans on Friday temporarily paused the case, Texas v. U.S., following a DOJ request that came earlier this week. Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt told the court that DOJ lawyers “are unable to prepare their opposition at this time due to the lapse in appropriations.”
The government’s partial shutdown is over a disagreement between President Trump and Democrats over how to fund border security, with Trump demanding $5.7 billion to fund a barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The latest order on holding the Obamacare lawsuit was signed by Judge Leslie Southwick, a George W. Bush appointee.
A federal judge in December ruled that the healthcare law, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, was unconstitutional. The judge sided with Republican state officials who waged the initial lawsuit and want the law to be thrown out as a result of the Trump-signed tax law that zeroed out the fine for the uninsured. They argue that without the provision, the rest of the law must fall, and the federal judge, Reed O’Connor, agreed.
The ruling is being stayed as Democratic attorneys general appeal the case.
