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Group asks High Court to affirm the limits on the executive branch's ability to disregard federal statutes, reaffirm separation of powers
Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5188
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2015 /Standard Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch announced today that on December 24, 2014, it filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the IRS and the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Treasury over a decision by the agencies to ignore a key provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The lawsuit seeks specifically to prevent the IRS from providing refundable tax credits to individuals who purchase health care coverage through a federal rather than a state exchange. The amicus brief was filed in the Supreme Court of the United States (David King, et al. v. Sylvia Burwell, et al., (No. 14-114)). The plaintiffs are appealing a July ruling by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that found the broad Obamacare subsidies proper.
Under Section 36B of the ACA, tax subsidies are restricted to individuals who purchase health insurance "through an Exchange established by the State under 1311 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." Similar wording occurs in eight other locations throughout the ACA. In establishing the regulations governing the tax subsidies, however, the Obama administration declared that the phrase "Exchange established by the State" refers to state exchanges, regional exchanges, subsidiary exchanges, and a federally-facilitated exchange.
In its brief, Judicial Watch argued that the decision by the Obama IRS to extending ACA tax credits to individuals purchasing health care through federal exchanges "does not harmonize with the clear purpose of Congress" and could jeopardize the balance of powers:
Petitioners request that the Court to reaffirm the basic principle that the Executive Branch cannot disregard federal statutes in favor of its own policy choices and reverse the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ('Fourth Circuit') If the ruling were to stand, the constitutional system of separation of powers would be significantly altered.
Specifically, Judicial Watch argued:
In re Aiken County is an important 2013 decision from U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that "raise[d] significant questions about the scope of the Executive's authority to disregard federal statutes." In that case, the lower court declared that "[u]nder Article II of the Constitution and relevant Supreme Court precedents, the President must follow statutory mandates so long as there is appropriated money available and the President has no constitutional objection to the statute." The DC Circuit opinion raised fundamental constitutional concerns about allowing a president to ignore federal law:
It is no overstatement to say that our constitutional system of separation of powers would be significantly altered if we were to allow executive and independent agencies to disregard federal law…Our decision today rests on the constitutional authority of Congress and the respect that the Executive and the Judiciary properly owe to Congress...
