NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The Trump administration and a group of Republican-led states challenging former President Barack Obama’s health care law have asked a federal appeals court to uphold a ruling that the law is unconstitutional.
Their written arguments were filed Wednesday afternoon at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor struck down the Affordable Care Act in December, ruling in favor of Texas and other states that oppose the law. They say the law was rendered unconstitutional when Congress in 2017 reduced to zero the penalty for not having insurance.
The U.S. House and other, mostly Democratic-led states appealed.
The administration in its filing acknowledges it’s shifted its legal reasoning, while giving little explanation. The administration had argued initially that only parts of the law should be invalidated.
