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Bipartisan senators doubt ruling striking down ObamaCare

A federal judge’s ruling that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional was met with skepticism on Sunday from a bipartisan group of senators, who expressed doubt that the ruling will be upheld. 

The lawmakers were at odds with the White House with that prediction, as White House aide Stephen Miller predicted Sunday that the case will end up in front of the Supreme Court and the ruling will be upheld.

U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor ruled Friday that the health-care law’s individual mandate is unconstitutional and said the rest of the law is also unconstitutional because the mandate can’t be separated from the law.

{mosads}The Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, will remain in effect while the ruling is appealed. 

Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) harshly criticized the ruling Sunday and vowed to fight back against it, while GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Roy Blunt (Mo.) acknowledged the possibility it will be overturned.

Schumer, during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” called it an “awful ruling” and pledged that Democrats in the Senate would urge congressional intervention in the case. 

“We’re going to fight this tooth and nail. And the first thing we’re going to do, when we get back there in the Senate, is urge — put a vote on the floor urging an intervention in the case,” he said.

“A lot of this depends on congressional intent. And if a majority of the House and a majority of the Senate say that this case should be overturned, it’ll have a tremendous effect on the appeal,” Schumer added.

Klobuchar called the ruling “absurd” and called on lawmakers to work to improve the health-care law.

“There’s many things we can do. But right now with an administration in place that seems bound and determined to take away people’s health care, we have to protect the ability of people to have their health care even exist,” she said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

One member of the Trump administration, Miller, said it will be up to Democrats to work with Republicans “once ObamaCare is ultimately struck down.”

Miller predicted during an interview on “Face the Nation” that O’Connor’s ruling would end up in front of the Supreme Court and said the “likeliest outcome” is that the higher court will rule the law unconstitutional.

“We’ve always known that ObamaCare was unconstitutional,” he said. “The more important question is whether Democrats are going to work with Republicans once ObamaCare is ultimately struck down, which we believe it will be, to come up with a replacement plan that protects pre-existing conditions.”

President Trump has touted the ruling as a victory, writing in a tweet on Friday that the ruling was “great news for America.”

But even Republican senators voiced doubt Sunday that the ruling will survive after an appeal.

Blunt said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the ruling will either be “quickly dismissed” by a circuit court or there will be a “long period of time” before the circuit court makes a ruling. 

He added that he thinks the ruling “means we’re going to continue to debate this.”

“ObamaCare was a poorly thought-out plan, really poorly, poorly implemented to start with, that’s had lots of negative impact on lots of families,” he said.

Collins, the other Republican senator to weigh in on Sunday, was particularly critical of O’Connor’s ruling, which she called “far too sweeping” during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”

Collins added that the judge could have “taken a much more surgical approach” by only dealing with the individual mandate.

“He could have taken a much more surgical approach and just struck down the individual mandate and kept the rest of the law intact,” she said. “I believe it will be overturned.”

Tags Amy Klobuchar Chuck Schumer Dick Durbin Donald Trump Roy Blunt Susan Collins

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