On a roll; going for ACA

The Trump administration’s surprise decision to press for a court-ordered demolition of the Affordable Care Act came after a heated meeting in the Oval Office on Monday, where his acting chief of staff and others convinced President Trump that he could do through the courts what he could not do through Congress: Repeal his predecessor’s signature achievement.

  NYT

He might have to go all the way to Kavanaugh.

Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff and former South Carolina congressman, had spent years in the House saying that the health law should be repealed, and his handpicked head of the Domestic Policy Council, Joe Grogan, supported the idea of joining a Republican attorneys general lawsuit to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act.

That suit, and the Justice Department, initially pressed to nullify only the part of the law that forces insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions as well as a suite of health benefits deemed “essential,” such as pregnancy and maternal health, mental health and prescription drugs.

But a district judge in Texas ruled that the entire law was rendered unconstitutional when Mr. Trump’s tax law brought the tax penalty for not having health insurance to zero, and the administration faced a choice: Stick with its more limited intervention or back the judge’s decision.

[...]

Mr. Mulvaney and Mr. Grogan argued [that Trump] campaigned on repealing the health law. His base of voters would love it. Besides, they argued, Democrats have been campaigning successfully on health care, and Republicans should try to take it over themselves.

[...]

Among those with concerns was Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, who shared that it was opposed by the new attorney general, William P. Barr. Vice President Mike Pence was concerned about the political ramifications of moving ahead without a strategy or a plan to handle the suddenly uninsured if the suit succeeds.

Concerned Mike is no doubt easily ignored.

That meeting was followed by a smaller one, where Mr. Mulvaney and Mr. Cipollone were among those voicing different opinions. But Mr. Trump had been sold, and on Monday night, the Justice Department issued a statement saying it supports the Texas judge’s decision.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump doubled down on his support for the Texas suit while talking to reporters in the Oval Office.

“If the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare is out, we’ll have a plan that is far better than Obamacare,” he said.

And no one asked him what that plan is.

Mr. Barr did not favor the move but did not object to the White House decision once it had been made, people familiar with what took place said. And one White House official said that the administration faced a deadline imposed by the court if it wanted to support the suit.

[...]

Mr. Trump did not seem to care about shifting the political focus toward an issue that Democrats far preferred to the aftermath of the Mueller report.

[...]

Mr. Mueller, according to a letter by Mr. Barr, found no evidence of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

People keep saying that. And that's not even what Barr said.

"As the report states: "[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."

That does not say there was no evidence.

But Republicans in Congress have no obvious road forward on legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act that could pass the Democrat-controlled House. And House leaders have little political incentive to bow to Republican wishes on health care, an issue that they believe delivered their House majority and that they are eager to campaign on in 2020.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.