Report: Cabinet members, including William Barr, objected to move to overturn ObamaCare


Two Cabinet secretaries — Attorney General William Barr and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar — pushed back on the Trump administration's recent decision to reverse course and try to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, three people with knowledge of the matter told Politico.
In a letter sent to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, the Justice Department said federal lawyers will file a brief in support of a December district court ruling that the ACA's individual mandate is unconstitutional, and this renders the entire law invalid. Talks have been underway since late last year, with Azar arguing in December that there was no reason to fully repeal ObamaCare because Republicans don't have an alternative plan.
Barr was confirmed earlier this year, and "his opposition was based in part on skepticism among conservative lawyers about the wisdom of seeking to overturn the law," Politico reports. He was overruled by the White House on this ACA reversal plan, and he must now lead the Justice Department as it works to topple the health-care law.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney was once a congressman from South Carolina, a Tea Party ultra-conservative and one of the loudest critics of the ACA. Two of his close allies — acting director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought and domestic policy chief Joe Grogan — pushed for the DOJ to back the December ruling, people with knowledge of the matter told Politico.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Book reviews: 'America, América: A New History of the New World' and 'Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'
Feature A historian tells a new story of the Americas and the forgotten story of a pioneering preacher
-
Another messaging app used by the White House is in hot water
The Explainer TeleMessage was seen being used by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
-
AI hallucinations are getting worse
In the Spotlight And no one knows why it is happening
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study finds
Speed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influence
Speed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreads
Speed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015
Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozens
Speed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study finds
Speed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cows
Speed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year