The likely next leader of the House Judiciary Committee on Monday promised to investigate why the Justice Department declined to defend Obamacare in a lawsuit from 20 states, which, if successful, would eradicate the law.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., sent a letter to acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker signaling his intent to press the department on the decision issued in June. Nadler is expected to take over the House Judiciary Committee when Democrats assume control of the House in early January.
Nadler wrote to Whitaker that the Justice Department ignored a constitutional duty to enforce acts of Congress. He said the DOJ neglected that duty by not defending the Affordable Care Act against the lawsuit. Nadler’s letter referenced the resignations of three career attorneys in response to the decision.
“In the next Congress, this committee expects to examine the department’s refusal to defend a duly enacted federal statute, the abrupt resignation of veteran department employees and an apparent determination by this administration to undermine affordable healthcare coverage for millions of Americans,” Nadler wrote.
Nadler called for Whitaker to provide responses to a letter that he wrote in June on the reasoning for the decision to pull support for Obamacare.
The 20 states, led by Texas, argue in their lawsuit that Obamacare should be struck down because the financial penalty for the individual mandate, which requires everyone to get insurance, goes to zero in 2019. The states argue that Obamacare’s tax authority goes away with the mandate and that the rest of the law cannot stand without the mandate.
The Justice Department said in June that it supports the lawsuit, but only to a point. The department said that the court should only throw out Obamacare’s pre-existing condition protections and not the entire law.
The department’s decision was cited heavily in Democratic attacks against Republicans during the 2018 elections. Democrats swept into the House majority with a pickup of nearly 40 seats.
A Texas federal judge is expected to issue a request from the 20 states for a preliminary injunction that would end any federal enforcement of the law’s pre-existing condition protections.
