The ruling puts ObamaCare in legal limbo, even with a less-influential court, the 4th Circuit, issuing a conflicting ruling. The administration says it will request an en banc hearing before the entire 11-judge DC Circuit, which is weighted in Obama’s favor, with seven Democratic appointees.
But the issue is plainly headed to the US Supreme Court eventually. Two other federal appeals courts are deciding challenges almost identical to Halbig. Any disagreement among them will force the high court to rule.
Don’t bet that Chief Justice John Roberts will save ObamaCare again: The issue here is the clear language of the law — and twice in recent months the Supreme Court has emphatically declared that the executive branch must execute the laws, not rewrite them.
Betsy McCaughey wrote tons of anti-ObamaCare books, so there might be some wishful thinking going on here. But still I hope she's right.