1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Law with June Grasso from Bloomberg Radio. 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: We will hear argument this morning in case California versus Texas. 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: In the most high stakes case of the term, the 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,600 Speaker 1: justice is considered the fate of the Affordable Care Act, 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: the landmark law better known as Obamacare, that provides health 6 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: insurance to twenty million people. From the oral arguments, it 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: appeared that the law would survive the challenge, but the 8 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: question was how on what grounds? First, the justices have 9 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:34,279 Speaker 1: to decide whether the challengers even have a legal right 10 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: to sue, called standing, and Chief Justice John Roberts and 11 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh posed several hypotheticals to 12 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: determine this. Let's say Congress passes a law saying everybody 13 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: has to mow their lawn once a week. Uh. And 14 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: they even make a lot of findings about why that's 15 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: a good thing. You know, it makes the country look neater, 16 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: you get fresh air if you have to do that, 17 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: supports the lawnmower business. Um. And but the fine for 18 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,400 Speaker 1: violating it is zero zero dollars. Um, do they have standing? 19 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: I assume that in most places there is no penalty 20 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: for wearing a face math or a mask during covid um, 21 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:19,960 Speaker 1: but there is some degree of approbrium if one does 22 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: not wear it in certain settings. Suppose Congress passed the 23 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: law requiring every American who lives in a house to 24 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 1: fly an American flag in front of the house. There's 25 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: no penalty. My guest is Abby Gluck, a professor at 26 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: Yale Law School and the founding faculty director of the 27 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,199 Speaker 1: Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy. Happy Let's start 28 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: with the basics. Why is Obamacare before the Supreme Court again? 29 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: So this is actually the seventh time the Affordable Care 30 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: Act has been in a Supreme Court in eight years, 31 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: and it is the third time the Supportable Care Act 32 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: has sased what we call an existential challenge, a challenge 33 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: to its entire being. And the reason the case is 34 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: here is that Congress in decided, after seventy failed attempts 35 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: to appeal and replace the laws, that it was able 36 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: to do one thing, one symbolic thing, and that is 37 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: zero out the penalty associated with the insurance purchase requirements, 38 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: the infamous mandates, the insurance mandate. This, as you might remember, 39 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,799 Speaker 1: had been the focal point of the first litigation long 40 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: been held up there as a symbol of what anti 41 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: affordable tax folks really don't like. So Congress zeros out 42 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: the penalty. The mandate is no longer enforceable, and in 43 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: the real world that really has relatively little effects. And 44 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: the reason that has relatively little effect is that the 45 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: mandate had never really been fully enforced, the markets that 46 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: acclimated to the mandate not existing, and so by the 47 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: time the mandate is actually as he wrote out, the 48 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: effect on the market is relatively little. So how do 49 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: we get to the court? Well, eighteen Red States of 50 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: the Department of Justice took that argument one step further 51 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: and said, look, now the mandate is no longer constitutional. 52 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: The reason the mandate is no longer constitutional is that 53 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court, in an earlier case in twenty twelve 54 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: and f I d. Versus abilious upheld the mandate as 55 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: attacks to the penalty of zero. They argued, it can't 56 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: be attacked still relatively insignificant, given that the mandate was 57 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,919 Speaker 1: not really enforced. However, they weren't even further than that, 58 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: and argued that the entire Affordable Charact was so inextricably 59 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: tied to the mandate that the whole two thousand piece 60 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: law had to go down with it, and they might 61 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: have been further and said Congress told the court as much. 62 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: Congressise effectively instructed the Court to strike the entire statute down, 63 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: even after Congress decided not to strict to church you down. 64 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: So it's kind of a preposterous set effect that brought 65 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: us to earlier. So the first question was whether the 66 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: challengers here have standing to sue, And we heard all 67 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: kinds of hypotheticals from the justice is about mowing the lawn, 68 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: wearing a mask, flying the flag. What were they getting at? Yes, 69 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: So I think it was really interesting start to the 70 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: oral argument. Um, we had all the justices in our 71 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: first line of question. We're asking these stand main questions. 72 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: And so while everyone who's sort of listening in waiting 73 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: to get to the consequential question of will be a 74 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: a survive Uh, the Court took the entire time for 75 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: the California Solicitor General to spend on the threshold question 76 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: of standing. So why is that important? First of all, 77 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,799 Speaker 1: standing is a threshold question. If the parties aren't injured 78 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: deficients to bring the case, the case goes away. So 79 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,679 Speaker 1: it's important that the courts from the time on that second, 80 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 1: you've got to remember that these standing issues are important 81 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: to the court beyond the context of the Affordable Care Act. 82 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: Whatever happened to the Affordable Care Act this year, UM 83 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: may well be tied just to the Affordable Care Act. 84 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: Of course, if they affirm the presumption of sever ability, 85 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: that's very important. But there are important standing issues about 86 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: the ability of states to bring cases and what kind 87 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: of injury individuals need to bring cases, and the Court 88 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 1: cares about those issues a lot in the long term. 89 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: So I was not surprising to the justices, uh, focusing 90 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: on that for the first round of questions. What was 91 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: the meaning of all those questions? You're right, there are 92 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: a lot of interesting hypothetical where if there's a requirement 93 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: that you were a mask, but there's no penalty to 94 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: enforce it. Where if there's a requirement to everybody knows 95 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: their lawns and there's no penalty to enforce it, and 96 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: so on. And when they were trying to get at 97 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: was the question of um, whether you could be sufficiently 98 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: injured by failing to obey a requirement that doesn't have 99 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: an enforcement provision. So an example that the Chief Justice 100 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: gave was, uh, if you decided if you were then asked, 101 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: have you ever broken a law on an employment form 102 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: and you decided to say not to mow your lawn? Um, 103 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: would you have to check the box to say yes, 104 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: I wrote the law or not? And they were trying 105 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,040 Speaker 1: to use those hypotheticals to get the question about whether 106 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: an unenforceable requirement which is how the justice were describing 107 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: as for those hypotheticals, would be sufficient to hook injury 108 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: onto for purpose of standing, knowing that you can't definitively 109 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: ten from the justices questions, do you think that there 110 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: are enough votes to say that there is standing and 111 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 1: they can go to the merits question? So I think 112 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: that we don't know how the court is going to 113 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: rule on standing. There were so many different questions going 114 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: in so many different areas that it's very hard to tell. 115 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 1: If I were a betting person, I would that slightly, 116 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: although I've never been on the court to say that 117 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: the Court will get to the Merritt's question, because there 118 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: did seem to be enough justices that were interested, uh 119 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,160 Speaker 1: in getting to the merriage question. And in fact, and 120 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: as we'll talk about in upholding the Affordable Care Act. 121 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: But there is one pretty significant piece of the standing 122 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: argument um which I think is relatively important, and it's 123 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: just the argument that the Department of Justice is making 124 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: it which there was effectively trying to bootstrap standing by 125 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: using the entire Affordable Care Acts to challenge one particular provision. 126 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,359 Speaker 1: So based me the day argument is because some of 127 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: the plaintiffs were harmed by some provisions in the Affordable 128 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: Care Act, they can then argue that because all of 129 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: the provisions of the Affordable Character are tied together, that 130 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: they're inseparable. That allows them to get into courts to 131 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: argue that demandated are constitutional, and therefore all the provisions, 132 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: including the one that offends them, will be struck down. 133 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: And just the So the mayor says, well, that's really 134 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: your argument. Shouldn't they have just challenged the provision that 135 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: they don't like. Why are they trying to come into 136 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: court through the back door of arguing the whole statute 137 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: is inextriculably tied together, so I can therefore challenge anything 138 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: I want right to bring the whole statute down. So 139 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: just to so do majors sort of call them on that, 140 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: I think just as Thomas is very, very worried about 141 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: this idea of thinking about the statute as inseparable, as 142 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: a single coherent unit that can't be broken apart for 143 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: purposes of the stand. The youngquery, because you saw how 144 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: that could just open up and explode This idea of 145 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: articles were standing, would make it very easy for lit 146 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: again to get into courts of challenge thing by bootstepping 147 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: arguments on the dickerent positions that had no harmful effect 148 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: on them whatsoever. When the Justice is turned to considering 149 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: the merits of the case and whether the individual mandate 150 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: is still constitutional after Congress zero and out the penalty, 151 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: Chief Justice John Roberts questioned former Solicitor General Donald Vailli, 152 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: who now represents the House, about his apparent change of 153 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: position since the arguments in. But now the representation is 154 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: that who know everything's fine without it? Uh? Why why 155 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: de bate and switched? And was was Congress wrong when 156 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,440 Speaker 1: it said that the mandate was the key to the 157 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: whole thing that we spent spent all that time talking 158 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: about broccoli for nothing? Justice Steven Bryer pointed to many 159 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 1: laws that tell the public to do things without any 160 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: horseman provisions and he pressed the Texas Solicitor General to 161 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: explain why those statutes aren't now open to challenge. World 162 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: War One defense statutes, buy war bonds, an environmental statute 163 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: plant a tree, a one of a thousand statutes commemorating 164 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: something beautiful, city's day, clean up the yard. Are all 165 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: those statutes suddenly open to challenge? I've been talking to 166 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: Abbey Gluck, a professor at Yale Law School. Abbey, where 167 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: do you think that justice has stood on the constitutionality 168 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: of the individual mandate? Which interesting about the discussion on 169 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: the mandate is that, again, this is more an area 170 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,559 Speaker 1: in which I don't think we can predict if a 171 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: mandate itself will survive. Uh As I said before, I 172 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: do think it's more likely than that if the rest 173 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 1: of the Affordable Care Act will survive. And that's a 174 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: consequential question in the case, because I said earlier, mandate 175 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: has not been fully enforced, So whether or not a 176 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: survived has relatively about practical significance. But the oil argument 177 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: was basically a debate about different kinds of scenarios. One 178 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: scenario is could this possibly still be attacked? There's a 179 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: really interesting set of questions um that you know, rotated 180 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 1: among course search and Alito and Justice of Mayor, among others, 181 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:23,839 Speaker 1: where they were exploring the idea of whether attack with 182 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: a number of zero on it could still be attacked 183 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: in justice of mariority is some really helpful examples. For instance, 184 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: she asked the lawyers, well, what if Congress set attacks 185 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: and then phased it out down to zero over a 186 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: course of years, would still be attacked? Would have Congress 187 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 1: enactive attack and gave it a delayed beginning and said 188 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: it is zero for the first few years and then 189 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,959 Speaker 1: raised the level over time, would that still be attacks? 190 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: And you turned into the challenger said yes. So she 191 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: pressed and said, how is this different? How is sort 192 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: of attacked and waiting attacks temporarily set of zero not 193 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:03,800 Speaker 1: attacked for purposes of its constitutional authority? That was one 194 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: set of questions. Then there's another set of questions that 195 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,199 Speaker 1: sort of painted at the idea that maybe this is 196 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: no longer attacked at all, and that would make it 197 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: invalid because then nothing could justify it except for the 198 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 1: commerce clause, as a court already held in twenty twelve 199 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: that the mandate was not a valid exercise of Congress's 200 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 1: commerce power just to Starrett was very interested in that argument. 201 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: And then you know, throughout there was this other, this 202 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: other set of arguments about you know, how to conceptualize 203 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:35,839 Speaker 1: this at all. Maybe it's not a tax, maybe it's 204 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: the mandate, Maybe it's something different entirely. Maybe it's just 205 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: a precatory requirement, as Formers really said, you know, it's 206 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: not operative, right, So that's the language that the Blue 207 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: states in the House are using it. It's not a requirement, 208 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: it's not a command. And even if you don't see 209 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: this attack, it's nothing operative. It has no effect, it 210 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,719 Speaker 1: can't harm anybody. And so those are the kind of 211 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,959 Speaker 1: different scenarios that the Court was moving amom and was 212 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,719 Speaker 1: trying to figure out how it was going to characterize 213 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: what we call the mandate with the court construted attacks. 214 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: What did you make of Justice Roberts asking for really 215 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: why the bait and switch and we've been talking about 216 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: broccoli all this time for nothing? Yeah, that was a 217 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: great exchange. So the argument opened up with the California 218 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:26,199 Speaker 1: Plis General. It was not surprisingly they used up all 219 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: of his time on the standing issues. So when they 220 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: get to r Really who was overtending the House, they 221 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: suddenly are ready to turn to the mert, so they 222 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: kind of have to clear the air. And the reason 223 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: I have to clear the air is that really was 224 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: Barack Obama Solicitor General. He defended the Affordable Care Act 225 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: in twenty twelve and twenty fifteen, and the Supreme Court 226 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: and back in the actually argued that the mandate was 227 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: so essential to the operation of a few of the 228 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: insurance provision and the Affordable Care Act that if the 229 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: mandate was struck down, he suggested, the courts are strug 230 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,080 Speaker 1: down a few of those insurance provisions as well. Know. 231 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:02,680 Speaker 1: Roberts comes in and says, we had this whole debate 232 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: in twelve and you argued here about the mandate's essentiality. 233 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 1: That was the broccoli debate, and now you're back saying 234 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:11,320 Speaker 1: it doesn't matter, so explain yourself. And that was really 235 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: important because it gave really an opportunity to both bring 236 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: us into the present, to move us back from the 237 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: twelve exchange, which is really no longer legally relevant, and 238 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,679 Speaker 1: also to explain why the people medicating positions have switched. 239 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,679 Speaker 1: And what we really said was well, back then, it 240 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: seemed to Congress that it needed in his words, both 241 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:35,199 Speaker 1: carrots and sticks to get the Affordable Flare Act markets 242 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 1: working effectively. The mandate was the stick, and he said, 243 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: over time it became clear that actually you don't need 244 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: the stick. The parrots are working just fine. And so 245 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: we said, the seventeen Congress, enlightened by these intervening years, 246 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: informed by data including a CBO report, made the decision 247 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,880 Speaker 1: that the stick was no longer necessary. So what once 248 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: was thought to be important, it's not important anymore. And 249 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,559 Speaker 1: that's why the appropriate to sever what's really interesting about that? 250 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 1: If we had another great analogy later in the argument 251 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: by Justice Alito, who says, you know, once upon a 252 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:11,599 Speaker 1: time there was a piece that was really essential to 253 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,200 Speaker 1: flying the plane, and now that piece has been taken 254 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: out when the plane hasn't crashed. Right. That's another way 255 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: of sort of explaining to change of events that happens 256 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 1: over time. And of course it's the case that Congress 257 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: is allowed to offer statutes as circumstances change, and that's 258 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: exactly what has been in missing. At one point, Justice 259 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: Briar seemed almost exasperated with the Texas Solicitor General when 260 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: he was questioning him about other laws that like Obamacare, 261 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:47,080 Speaker 1: don't have a mechanism for enforcement explain Briar's concern. Throughout 262 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: the argument, there was a repeated line of question about 263 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: so called pregatory laws, laws that require that sort of 264 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: ask people to do something. We don't have any enforcement mechanism, 265 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: So Jesice Briar kept giving examples of many laws he 266 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: remembered from his time in the Senate. He Spurs who 267 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:05,760 Speaker 1: was time in the Senate, and said, we had laws 268 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,760 Speaker 1: declaring X y Z a commemorative day building this post office, 269 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: all sorts of laws that sort of urged but don't 270 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: have a penalty, don't have a tax associated with it. 271 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: And Briar looked at the Solicitor General and said, are 272 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: you telling me that all of those hundreds of laws 273 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 1: that I remember across the U. S Code that asked 274 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: people to do things who don't have an import fit mechanism, 275 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: are all of those invalid? Because that's the theory they 276 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 1: were boarding here with respect to the mandate. And he 277 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: got very frustrated because he took the Texas Solicitor General 278 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: on the Department of Justice and making the claim that 279 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: they had somehow prus the entire US Code and searched 280 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: for provisions like this and found that none of them 281 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: used the shall language that the mandate uses, that the 282 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: mandate was really a command. And Briar pressed them and said, 283 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: have you actually read every statute in the US Code? 284 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: Are you absolutely sure? But I didn't remember it that 285 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: way from my time in Congress, and I remember writing 286 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: a lot of those laws that don't have an enforcement mechanism. 287 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: And in the end the lawyer sort of step back 288 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 1: and said, no, Justice, we haven't read every single law 289 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: in the US Code. So you know, I bet Justice 290 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: Briar's law parks are going to be very busy this weekend. 291 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: It's coming the US Code. I'm serious for these examples 292 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: because what the challenger's lawyers round up sort of digging 293 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: their feet into with this idea that only the Affordable 294 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: Care Acts provision uses the word shall. Right, Briar said, 295 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: you know, are you sure? Right? You are? You absolutely sure? 296 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: And then they started having discussions about is it shall, 297 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: is it should? Doesn't make a difference. So I think 298 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: Justice Briar is informed by his knowledge of the US Code, 299 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: his knowledge of the statutory of that have faith in 300 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: this kind of mechanism seemed familiar to him, didn't seem 301 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 1: that unusual for Converse to put in the provision that 302 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: has no enforcement mechanism. Um, just really pressing practice in 303 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: the Department of just about that. And now we come 304 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:04,439 Speaker 1: to the third part of the analysis, and what I 305 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: think is the headline about the arguments, which is that 306 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 1: two conservative justices, the Chief Justice and Justice Kavanaugh, seemed 307 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: to indicate in no uncertain terms that the mandate could 308 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: be severed from the rest of the law and Obamacare 309 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:23,239 Speaker 1: will survive. Here's Justice Kavanaugh. I tend to agree with 310 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,640 Speaker 1: you on this, a very straightforward case for severability under 311 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: our precedents, meaning that we would exercise the mandate and 312 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,359 Speaker 1: leave the rest of the act in place. Yeah, I 313 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: think that's right, and I think you're right that that 314 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: is to have mine. You know, as I've been saying 315 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:41,360 Speaker 1: throughout this conversation, Um, you know, the standing issues are 316 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:44,440 Speaker 1: very important in general as the court to find a 317 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,679 Speaker 1: standing Jars FURTA. It's very important for the court to 318 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: resolve this threshold question about whether litigants can take these 319 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: jeep dousand page laws find something offensive, uh, and us 320 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,120 Speaker 1: an inseverability argument to create standing where there is none. 321 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: That's important. The second to your question of whether the 322 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:07,160 Speaker 1: mandate is unconstitutional. You know, that's important to some extent, 323 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: but we've already had that discussion, and that, if I be, 324 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: we already know where most of the court is on 325 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,119 Speaker 1: a commerce cause and the mandate's operation on the ground 326 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:19,440 Speaker 1: is not that significant. But this significant question, obviously is 327 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,200 Speaker 1: what happens to the rest of the law. That's the 328 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,199 Speaker 1: question that affects twenty million people who have thrown up 329 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,679 Speaker 1: the roles, the hundred million people who have previous in conditions, 330 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: all the billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid and 331 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: so on, and really want this to be economy the 332 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: health care system. So that's the big question and to 333 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: that question, and this is why you're right, that is 334 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,879 Speaker 1: the headline. Uh, it does look like the affordable character 335 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,480 Speaker 1: it's likely to survive. Um. You know, we didn't hear 336 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: too much from the three liberal justices specifically about severability. UM. 337 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: But we did hear quite a bit from Justice Savanaugh 338 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 1: and Chief Justice Roberts. Both justices realign themselves with a 339 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:04,120 Speaker 1: strong presumption of separability. Justice Robert said he would find 340 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: it hard to believe that the Court should write down 341 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: the entire Affordable Care Acts from Congress itself after seventies 342 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: failed attempts to repeal and replace, decided only to zero 343 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: out that one provision and leave the rest of the 344 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,119 Speaker 1: law intact. And just shee. Justice Robert said, given that 345 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: Congress did that, given that Congress left the rest of 346 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:27,479 Speaker 1: the law intact, he said, it's not our job right 347 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: to strike it down. So that was really interesting. Um. 348 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 1: Justice Kavanaugh said more than one that he thought the 349 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,000 Speaker 1: severability argument was very strong here. He sort of laid 350 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:42,960 Speaker 1: his cars on the table, and both Kavanaugh and Roberts um, 351 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: we're very spectacle of this argument made by Texas and 352 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 1: the Department of Justice that Congress somehow dictated to the 353 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: Court in the Affordable Care Act that come what may, 354 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: it should write down the Affordable Care Act, no matter 355 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: what it demanded a struck down. And that argument is 356 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: based on statutory findings of the law that were inserted 357 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:12,639 Speaker 1: into the law to justify Congresses power under the Commerce Clause. 358 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 1: As you know, the Court rejected Congress's Commerce Clause justifications, 359 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,160 Speaker 1: but the language from those finding, who was talked about 360 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: the mandates importance to the markets is what the challenger sees. 361 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,640 Speaker 1: Don Justice Kavanaugh and to Justice Roberts really weren't having 362 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: any of that. They said, you know what, I know 363 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,680 Speaker 1: what an inseparability clause looks like. The US Code has 364 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,919 Speaker 1: plenty of examples, and that's not what this looks like. 365 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: When Congress wants to write in separability clause, it knows 366 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: how to do that. And I think those are very 367 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: important moments in the our arguments for the Affordable Care Act. 368 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:54,120 Speaker 1: Don't really know where Barrett Thomas or such oral leader 369 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: are on separability. It is interesting that Justice Thomas, who 370 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: in some past cases has indicated desire to reshaped severability doctrine, 371 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: just kept saying sever ability is a question of statutory interpretation. 372 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: He didn't seem to resist the notion of severability in general. 373 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,920 Speaker 1: And we had that analogy from Justice Alito saying, well, 374 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,160 Speaker 1: we thought the mandate was so important, but we've taken 375 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 1: it out and the point is so flying. That sounds 376 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: kind of like a severability argument to me um. And 377 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: then we really didn't hear anything from Core such a 378 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: Barrett one way or the other about how they might 379 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: rule on severability if they do ever get to that question. 380 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 1: And mean, let me ask you this question, why do 381 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 1: you think that the Chief Justice and Justice Kavanaugh so 382 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,920 Speaker 1: plainly laid their cards on the table, as you say, 383 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,440 Speaker 1: to say that you know, basically we're going to vote 384 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 1: that this is severable. Well, you know I've written this before. 385 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: I think of you and I discussed this before as well. 386 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 1: You know, Justice and Justice Kavana just wrote opinions last 387 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 1: term on severability. Right. Each of them authored important opinions, 388 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 1: strongly reaffirming the presumption in favor of separability. Both of 389 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: them used the same analogy in those opinions, that's um 390 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: Sellia law and the American Political Consultants case. Both of 391 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,720 Speaker 1: them used the same analogy, comparing severability to surgical severance 392 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:27,719 Speaker 1: rather than wholesale destruction, a scalpel rather than a bulldozer. 393 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,920 Speaker 1: Both of them so sort of in tandem last spring 394 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: reaffirming that auction. And it's very very hard for me 395 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: to believe that in writing those cases they didn't have 396 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:39,640 Speaker 1: the Affordable Care Acts. Somewhere in the back of their 397 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: mind they knew the case was coming. The new severability 398 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: is going to be important. Just as Kavanaugh wrote about 399 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: severability in the Law Review article before he was on 400 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,959 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court, talking about the importance of the strong presumption. 401 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: So I think it would have been actually very strange 402 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: if neither of them had mentioned the presumption and favorability 403 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 1: or kind of alignment topic with it, because it would 404 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: have looked like they were departing from this rule, that 405 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: the settled rule to each of them just reaffirmed a 406 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: few months ago somehow for political reasons through the Affordable 407 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,479 Speaker 1: Care Act. So I wasn't really surprised, um, but it 408 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,119 Speaker 1: was refreshing to see them, you know, be rather upfront 409 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: about it. Thanks for being on the Bloomberg Law Show, 410 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: Abbey Bess, Professor Abby Gluck of Yale Law School, the 411 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: faculty director of the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy. 412 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,480 Speaker 1: The Supreme Court will issue its decision in the Obamacare 413 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: case by June. With healthcare accounting for a sixth of 414 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 1: the US economy, the stakes are massive, and the challenge 415 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 1: jeopardizes the healthcare of more than one five million Americans 416 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: with pre existing conditions, including those who have had COVID nineteen, 417 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 1: according to the Center for American Progress. And that's it 418 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,160 Speaker 1: for this edition of the Bloomberg Law Show. I'm June 419 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 1: gross Out. Thanks so much for listening. You can always 420 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,400 Speaker 1: get the latest legal news on the Bloomberg Law Podcast. 421 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 1: You can find them on Apple podcast, SoundCloud, or at 422 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: www dot bloomberg dot com slash podcast, slash Law, and 423 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 1: remember to tune to The Bloomberg Law Show every weeknight, 424 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 1: ten pm Eastern, right here on Bloomberg Radio