President Barack Obama’s executive immigration action has naturally riled up conservative lawmakers. Those conservatives who once supported it could now possibly shift to the opposition.
This includes Chief Justice John Roberts, Obama’s conservative, ace-in-the-hole, reported The Los Angeles Times.
The chief justice supported the Affordable Care Act two years ago, upholding the constitutionality of the ACA. However, the ACA is facing another legal battle before the Supreme Court. If the conservative justices wholly come together, it could mean the end of government insurance subsidies for two-thirds of America’s low- and middle-income enrollees.
However, it looks doubtful that Roberts will lend his support this second time around. It begins with what conservatives consider to be Obama’s tendency to overreach his power.
Bit by bit, the Supreme Court has overruled executive decisions made by the president and his administration. The first occurred in June when the Supreme Court overruled Obama’s temporary recess appointments. According to the decision, the overruling justices said “all presidents have a high interest in expanding” their powers, and it’s the court’s duty to keep such interest in check.
Shortly after that decision, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration overreached by requiring Christian business owners to cover the cost of some contraceptives. In short, conservatives have been making every attempt to stall any executive action made by the president. But the latest one on immigration has really upset right-wingers.
Now that the ACA’s constitutionality has come under fire once again, the opposition could influence Roberts. The argument concerning the ACA is whether the Obama administration must abide to one provision which, as the LA Times noted, “says subsidies must be paid to those who enrolled in the state health exchange.” The other side of that issue is whether Obama can extend benefits to people on the federal exchange.
Experts and analysts believe that Roberts’ vote on the ACA issue will illustrate his stance on the immigration order. With how upset conservatives got over the decision, that’s likely to be true, sadly. Ever since made the decision late last month, conservatives have been taking various avenues to force Obama to redact the order.
Ever since Obama started taking executive action, Republicans have gotten weirder than usual, asserting that he’s trying to take over America and become some sort of dictator. Obama’s not doing anything that any president before him hasn’t done. However, the conservatives have really gone off the hinges on their rhetoric and are demanding some “retaliation” for what they believe is an illegal overreach of power. There’s one problem; it isn’t illegal.
