Thread by @Hegemommy

God save the United States and this honorable Court. Arguments in the ACA case are about to begin

c-span.org/video/?471185-…

California Solicitor General is up to start and makes the very cogent argument that the ACA cannot be struck down simply because of Republican shenanigans

Roberts first question is on standing and whether not getting insurance is a violation of the ACA

Roberts wants to know if they don't abide by the mandate if they need to check the box that they've ever violated the law in a job application

Thomas is up now and starts with a comparison to not wearing a mask during COVID and not getting insurance and whether or not there's equal standing to enforce

Just good to flag that the Justices are often thinking of other cases when they hear arguments in others

Just a reminder that my work-spouse @AngryBlackLady is live tweeting this circus over at @RewireNewsGroup!

@AngryBlackLady @RewireNewsGroup Wow so Thomas really hates the ACA we know this but that was a very active round of questioning by Thomas

Breyer is up and offers the CA Solicitor General the chance to explain how Thomas' theory of standing and severability would basically allow an enormous loophole where plaintiffs don't have to actually SHOW injury but allow conservative federal judges to rule on the law anyway

Alito really likes this idea of standing put forward by Texas and the conservatives bringing this case, likely because there are over 200 Trump judges on the bench and the possibility of progressive legislation in the future

Sotomayor up now and it's like a brand new day in the audio feed

Sotomayor's first question is basically: if the plaintiffs wanted to bring the kind of claim Alito just described they could have. But they didn't.

Sotomayor's line of questioning here really bringing out her background as a prosecutor. It's an art

Kagan up now and goes directly to the state's standing argument, likely looking for a through line to hem in Roberts and .... hopefully one more of her colleagues

In oral arguments like these Kagan is almost always speaking to Roberts for the compromise opinion

Justice Gorsuch up now and I know it's not on the merits but does anyone know if Gorsuch still has a quarantine beard

Gorsuch seems to be willing to rule against the states here on the argument that they have standing to bring this kind of claim but didn't meet the burden of proof at the trial stage MAAAYBE

Justice Kavanaugh up now and my stomach hurts

Everyone is talking about standing

These standing questions are all about what the Democrats are going to do in Congress and how can MAGA's protest in the courts

Now Justice Barrett is up and she's very excited to talk about this case. Super.

Barrett is up now asking about hypotheticals and I remain confused because according to her confirmation testimony lawyers cannot answer hypotheticals

I will say that the California SG does a much better job suffering bullshit from the justices than I ever could

And this is why I get paid to yell on Twitter rather than at the Supreme Court 😂😂

Don Verrilli is up now and reminder he has saved the ACA for all of us several times already and is a very good advocate

Don Verrilli is a very good Supreme Court advocate

Roberts up with the first question and whether or not the entire law hinges on the ACA's individual mandate

Roberts asks Verrilli "if we spent all that time talking about broccoli for nothing" and all the other health law journalists groan in unison

It's been a long 8 years

Just listening to Verrilli handle Thomas is a good reminder even to me that he's outflanked these justices before

It's gonna be a sweaty couple of months

Wait something is going on with arguments and Roberts is just going to skip over Breyer I guess? That's cool and totally fine

Alito addresses Verrilli the way you would your ex-spouse in an event in public where your children are present and you want to make sure you know they still hate their guts but you're going to get along in public

Justice Sotomayor up now and seriously there is no other justice who can just zero in on the issue like no other

She focuses in on the fact that Republicans could have repealed the mandate to kill the law but they didn't. Because politics.

Still waiting on an answer as to the status of Gorsuch's quarantine beard

Gorsuch is focusing on the merits and the text of the ACA since the mandate was not actually repealed

Ohhhh the fuckery from the Supreme Court is just starting and whoooo boy it's gonna be a long haul with this Court

The glee to which Barrett jumps into her questioning on the ACA is exactly why she was nominated

Imagine enjoying trying to strip 20 million Americans of health care as much as Amy Coney Barrett does

Barrett is literally making an argument for the Ted Cruz's of the Senate right now

I swear she practiced these questions in the mirror before arguments

Now the Republicans are up and argue that the entire law has to go

Roberts is up first and sounds skeptical that the mandate is not severable (that means it can't be taken away) from the rest of the law

Says if Congress wanted to get rid of the mandate it could have and it wanted the Court to do so but that's not the Court's job

IF Roberts were the median vote on this case this would be a compelling line of questioning but he's potentially in the 5-4 minority here

Thomas up now and gives the Republicans the floor to make their case

COVID remains a nightmare but the Court can't ever go back to not streaming these arguments

Justice Breyer up and goes right to the merits and the fact that lots of statutes give commands and that's not enough to get your knickers twisted and bring a lawsuit if you don't like the command

Justice Breyer is absolutely tired of this bullshit I've never heard him this angry and animated and I've covered the Court for a decade

Texas AG getting animated in this exchange with Breyer and I just really need the Senate to flip so this man can retire

Sotomayor using her time to absolutely wreck the Texas AG's arguments. This is more of a comment by Sotomayor than a question is what I'm getting at

Texas Solictor General my bad! I'm so focused on the AG in Texas that my fingers type ahead of my brain lol

The way that Sotomayor and Kagan are handling Hawkins is really great to witness

Kagan is not someone to mess around with on the ACA and Hawkins just found that out.

Gorsuch is up now and picks up on the merits arguments too. I'm having a hard time pinning down Gorsuch in these arguments and it might be because I'm admittedly distracted by the idea that he might or might not still have a pandemic beard

Gorsuch asks who he is supposed to enjoin and what he is supposed to enjoin them from doing (stop)

Texas Solicitor General says we want a declaration that mandate is unconstitutional and the entire ACA has to fall. But not that plainly. In lawyer speak.

Kavanaugh is up now and wants to go directly to the merits and says the law is pretty clear that if the Court rules the mandate is unconstitutional they need to sever (cut it) from the rest of the ACA. That would mean only the mandate falls and the rest of the law stands

Republican challengers really want the Court to do what it hasn't been able to do in 10 years: repeal the ACA but via judicial fiat

Kavanaugh is very skeptical of the severability arguments but that doesn't mean he wouldn't sign on to an opinion that kills the ACA imo

Kavanaugh is more skeptical of the Republicans' claims than I anticipated but not enough that I'm not sweating

Justice Barrett is up and practically asks the Texas Solicitor General if he'd like a muffin and some coffee to start

Texas is now wrapping up its arguments and I'm contemplating gin for lunch

And here comes the Trump Administration to argue the Court should strike down the entire ACA

Roberts is again skeptical of the states' standing argument which is on brand for Roberts who has spent a lot of his career on the bench limiting who can sue in federal court

Roberts hones in that standing helps the courts determine what are "actual cases" for them to decide

This is classic Roberts looking for noms where Republicans have ignored them entirely

"The government's views are yours, Justice Thomas" is a chilling line to have the US Solicitor General say out loud

Breyer outright trolling the Trump Administration here on whether the solicitor general's office has read the entire US Code to grok the impact of the argument its advancing

Justice Alito is up and even when he asks a friendly question he does it with a sneer

Justice Sotomayor is up and she's gonna question Wall like he's a hostile witness for the prosecution

Specific, direct, yes and no questions with no room for Wall to expound on bullshit. Again. This is an art.

Justice Kagan "assume for the moment I think your argument is garbage" basically

Justice Kagan looking for a place where she and Roberts can agree on standing

This opinion has the possibility of being a hot mess

Justice Kagan says its totes weird the Trump Administration won't say out loud how it feels about states bringing these kinds of lawsuits

Gorsuch is up now and wants the Trump administration to finish its standing argument

Trump Administration: I don't know what Kagan is worried about Republicans only litigate in good faith, basically

Justice Kavanaugh up now let's see how grumpy he is on severability with the administration

Justice Barrett is up which means these arguments are closer to over which is the first real good news of the day

The case is submitted and now we wait