REUTERS: U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up its attack on the Obamacare healthcare law, telling a federal appeals court it agrees with a Texas judge's ruling that the entire law is unconstitutional and should be struck down.
O'Connor ruled on a lawsuit brought by a coalition of 20 Republican-led states including Texas, Alabama and Florida, that said a Trump-backed change to the U.S. tax code made the law unconstitutional. "Mark my words. It's far more important to the American people because it involves their lives and the lives of their families," he said on the Senate floor.
"The taxing authority by Congress that led to the legitimate reason for Obamacare being upheld is gone," White House aide Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Tuesday."We now have a mandate without a penalty."