WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), announced that she has co-sponsored an amendment to this year’s appropriations bill that would prohibit the Department of Justice from using any funds for litigation relating to deeming the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, invalid, unenforceable, or the individual mandate not being severable from the rest of the law.
“The health of millions will be put in jeopardy if the ACA is struck down,” said Senator Rosen. “This amendment would block the Department of Justice from using funds to attack the ACA in a court of law, sabotaging the health care of Americans. I will continue fighting for the 20 million people who gained coverage under the law, and the 54 million Americans with pre-existing conditions who would be at risk if the ACA goes away.”
BACKGROUND: As one of her first actions in the Senate, Senator Rosen joined Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) in introducing a resolution that would authorize Senate Legal Counsel to intervene in Texas v. United States – a pending lawsuit in federal court, on behalf of the U.S. Senate, in order to defend the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act and its coverage protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration filed a brief in this case calling for the courts to strike down the ACA in its entirety.
Last Congress, then-Congresswoman Rosen introduced the same resolution in the House. Rosen’s House resolution was co-sponsored by the Ranking Members of all House committees of jurisdiction in addition to Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. The resolution had nearly 190 co-sponsors by the end of the 115th Congress.
In March, Senator Rosen also helped introduce a resolution that would provide the sense of the Senate that the Justice Department should reverse its policy of refusing to defend the constitutionality of the ACA, including the law’s coverage protections for those with pre-existing conditions, in Texas v. United States.
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