The Trump administration late Thursday night filed a legal brief asking the Supreme Court to invalidate the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, a move that would strip health insurance from more than 20 million people in the middle of a pandemic and slash taxes for the richest Americans.
The brief (pdf), submitted by the Justice Department in support of a Republican lawsuit, argues that Congress’ 2017 repeal of the individual mandate rendered the ACA unconstitutional.
“The entire ACA thus must fall with the individual mandate,” writes Solicitor General Noel Francisco.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and lead sponsor of the House Medicare for All Act of 2019, said in response to the Trump administration’s latest attack on the ACA that “we need to be guaranteeing healthcare for all, not gutting it from millions.”