Republican members the House Representatives announced Friday, Nov. 21st, that they have filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration’s “unilateral actions” implementing the Act.
The lawsuit says the administration unlawfully postponed the deadline for companies with 50 or more full- employees to either to their workers or pay for failing to do so.
The filing, in the U.S. District Court for the District Columbia, was announced by Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). It was filed against the secretaries the Treasury and the and Human Services departments.
It also challenges the to companies subsidies, or “-sharing reductions,” totaling approximately $175 billion over the next 10 years. The subsidies make up for reduced policies these insurers issue to eligible low-income insureds.
Echoing the language a resolution passed by the Republican- House in July, the lawsuit says the administration is “unlawfully and unconstitutionally” using an account by the Treasury Department to make payments to companies. Such transfers, the plaintiffs argue, are permissible only if first authorized by Congress.
The attorney for the plaintiffs is Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School. Two law firms previously engaged by the GOP representatives backed out of the case.
The lawsuit faces several hurdles. The Supreme Court has in the past ruled that plaintiffs must show they have suffered a “personal injury,” and are not merely arguing an abstract legal point. The Justices have previously rejected filed by members Congress and others for a lack “standing.”
The lawsuit may also take several years to wend its way through the courts. By the it is resolved, the mandate may have been fully implemented, making that issue moot.