Month: March 2015

Last Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the King v. Burwell case, which challenges the legality of tax subsidies in the 37 states that have opted to use the federal government’s marketplace instead of creating their own. A divide among the justices was clear, with the liberal wing largely backing the Obama Administration and conservatives speaking out in favor of the challengers. A ruling on the case is expected in June, with the outcome likely to hinge on the votes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy. The White House has said it does not have a contingency plan for an adverse ruling in King v. Burwell. Republicans leaders have begun reviewing ways to create a stopgap legislative fix, should the Supreme Court rule to immediately strike down the subsidies. But Justice Samuel Alito said that if that occurred, the court could give states a few extra months to comply before taking away the subsidies, perhaps until the end of tax season. "Going forward, there would be no harm done," he said.

Congress narrowly avoided a partial shutdown of the Homeland Security Department last Friday night after the Senate approved a one-week extension (H.R. 240) of the agency’s funding and the House followed suit just hours before a midnight deadline. The House vote was 357-60, sending the bill to President Obama for his expected signature. Support for the one-week patch came together hours after a three-week short-term spending bill was defeated in the House in a blow to the chamber’s GOP leaders. After watching top House Republicans’ plan derail Friday afternoon, Democrats agreed to support the one-week stopgap spending measure to prevent a funding lapse. The one-week spending bill looked unlikely to break the immigration impasse that has tied up national security funding and paralyzed Capitol Hill. But the 11th-hour bid from GOP leaders bought a brief respite to hunt for a better strategy while averting a looming funding lapse.