John Harwood NYT Article Blames Lack of Technical Corrections on ACA Bill on Partisan Polarization

This on King v. Bruwell seems clearly right, and formed the background of my recent LA Times oped, which included this passage:

 

Even if Congress were to come together in a bipartisan way to override some statutory interpretations of the Supreme Court, there is no way it is going to override the Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act. The House has voted dozens of times to repeal the healthcare law in its entirety; there is little chance it would step in now to save a law its members have so long maligned.

Roberts can point to many past cases in which court decisions have initiated a “dialogue” with Congress, which then stepped in with legislation to correct what it saw as errors in the court’s interpretation of congressional statutes.

In today’s fraught political environment, court-Congress dialogues are not generally possible.  But that might not stop Roberts from citing the possibility of such a dialogue  — especially if what he is really seeking is political cover and a chance to redeem his controversial earlier ruling on the Affordable Care Act with a new one that hobbles a key part of the law.

 

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