The Supreme Court delayed ruling on challenges to the 2010 health care law on Monday, but added an extra day for issuing rulings on Thursday.
The Court has been expected to rule on the constitutionality of the law by the end of its term, which closes at the end of this week. It is possible, but highly improbable, that the Court would wait until its next term to rule on the law.
What delay does mean is another big day for Scotusblog, the live blog staffed by lawyers and legal experts who do a live rundown of the decisions as they are read out. On Monday at 10 a.m., when the ruling was widely expected to come down, more than 90,000 users were watching, the blog said.
The Washington Post quotes Supreme Court-watchers as saying they expect Chief Justice John Roberts to want to write the majority opinion — whatever it is.
The Court is most likely to go one of three ways: upholding the law completely, striking it down in full, or striking down just the mandate that people purchase health insurance. But it could also issue a messy decision, severing parts of the law and upholding some while invalidating others.
Whatever happens, Congress isn’t ready. Any legislative reaction to the ruling will have to wait until after the elections in November.
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