[vc_row fullwidth=”false” attached=”false” padding=”0″ visibility=”” animation=””][vc_column border_color=”” visibility=”” width=”1/1″][vc_column_text disable_pattern=”true” align=”left” margin_bottom=”0″]The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (“WILL”), on behalf of United States Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Obama Administration’s attempts to exempt Congress and their staff from the full effects of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, was announced today at a press conference in the Senate chambers with Senator Johnson, WILL President Rick Esenberg, and Attorney Paul D. Clement, an advisor to the case.
Rick Esenberg, WILL President explains, “Time and time again we have seen the Obama Administration ignore the Constitution and federal law in its implementation of Obamacare. Now, without any legal authority whatsoever, it wants to exempt Congress from living by the same set of rules as their constituents. We are taking a stand with Senator Johnson against the continued lawlessness of the Obama Administration.”
Under the ACA, as of January 1, 2014, members of Congress and their staffers must purchase their health insurance plans from the federal Obamacare exchanges. Like the rest of the country, they can only receive subsidies from the government if their incomes fell below a certain level. But, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), from the urging of the Obama Administration and many in Congress, issued a regulation that gives members of Congress and their staff subsidies to purchase health insurance from the exchange. These tax-free payments are as high as $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for families.
WILL is asking the court to invalidate the OPM rule and declare that it acted unlawfully. The full complaint and other documents can be found here.[/vc_column_text][mk_fancy_title tag_name=”h2″ style=”false” color=”#153955″ size=”26″ font_weight=”normal” font_style=”normal” txt_transform=”none” letter_spacing=”1″ margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”18″ font_family=”none” font_type=”” align=”left” animation=”” el_class=””]Case Documents[/mk_fancy_title][prettyfilelist type=”pdf” tags=”johnson-v-opm” tag=”streetcar-challenge”][/vc_column][/vc_row]