Congress Receiving Unconstitutional Obamacare Subsidies
Robert E. Moffit
Politics, United States
Obama oversteps his power—and the Hill stays quiet.
In our constitutional republic, it not only matters what officials do, but also how they do it. Constitutional policy ends can be pursued only by constitutional means.
That understanding lies at the heart of the recent decision in United States House of Representatives v. Burwell. There, the Federal Court for the District of Columbia declared the Obama administration’s disbursement of health insurance cost-sharing subsidies to be unlawful, because Congress didn’t appropriate the funds. Article I, Section 9, clause 7 of the Federal Constitution reads in part: “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law. . .”
Ironically, House leaders celebrating this court victory are direct beneficiaries of the very same executive overreach. Current congressional health insurance subsidies are also being disbursed without any congressional authorization or appropriation. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) filed suit to block these special subsidies, but his case was dismissed for lack of standing.
It’s a complicated story. In March of 2010, Congress enacted the Affordable Care Act, including Section 1312 (d)(3)(D). The relevant section reads:
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the effective date of this subtitle, the only health plans that the Federal Government may make available to members of Congress and congressional staff with respect to their service as a member of Congress or congressional staff shall be health plans. (I) created under this act (or an amendment made by this act); or (II) offered through an exchange established under this act (or an amendment made by this act).”
In short, as of 2014, members of Congress and their staffs were not eligible for health coverage in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP); they had to enroll in Obamacare.
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