Supreme Court Asked to Delay Briefing in Obamacare Challenge

The states fighting over the constitutionality of Obamacare have asked the Supreme Court to allow more time to file briefs in the case.

The parties jointly asked the justices to approve a proposed schedule that would have the briefing completed by August 18, according to a letter filed Friday by California Deputy Solicitor General Samuel P. Siegel.

“All parties have agreed to this proposed schedule, which would allow the Court to hold oral argument during the October 2020 sitting,” he said.

California is leading the coalition of blue states that stepped into defend the law after the Department of Justice refused to do so. The Supreme Court on March 2 agreed to review the constitutionality of the law for a second time.

Under the proposed schedule, the coalition’s opening briefs would be due May 6.

Law in Limbo

The Democratic-run states are appealing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decision that left the fate of the law in limbo.

The appeals court found the provision in the law that requires everyone to buy insurance unconstitutional because the 2017 Congress dropped the penalty for failing to comply down to $0. The court declined to rule on whether the rest of the law must be scrapped.

Texas and the other Republican states that brought the lawsuit argue Congress didn’t intend for the other provisions of the law to survive without the mandate to buy insurance.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it was extending the traditional 90-day deadline to file cert. petitions to 150 days “in light of the ongoing public health concerns relating to Covid-19.”

On March 16, the court postponed oral arguments that were scheduled for the end of March and the beginning of April due to the spreading virus. The court last postponed arguments in October 1918 in response to the Spanish flu epidemic.

The case is California v. Texas, U.S., No. 19-840, extension request filed 3/20/20.

—With assistance from Kimberly Robinson