The wait is almost over for what could be the last big legal threat to ObamaCare.
Court watchers are working themselves into a frenzy awaiting a decision on King v. Burwell, one of the most anticipated cases of the year.
On opinion days, dozens of reporters are packing into the court or swarming the steps outside, while nearly 10,000 people tune into SCOTUSblog for live updates. False reports attempting to predict the timing of the decision have only further fueled the hype.
Across Capitol Hill, Republicans in the House and Senate briefed their members for the first time on Wednesday, trying to calm fears about what could happen to the 6.4 million people whose health insurance subsidies are at stake in the case.
Some of K Street’s biggest lobby firms are drafting “predecision” memos and briefing clients, even those outside of the healthcare realm about how they could be hit by a ruling.
Democrats are also getting nervous.
On the same afternoon as the Republican meetings, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell privately met with members of the New Democrat Coalition on Wednesday to talk about the case.
"In my state of Georgia, 500,000 people would lose their insurance — 8 or 9 million people across the country. And all [states] have to do is put the exchanges in place,” Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) said as he left the closed-door meeting.
A spokeswoman for the coalition’s chairman, Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), said she couldn’t discuss details, but confirmed the administration’s response to the case was the “main topic of discussion.”
The growing anticipation surrounding King v. Burwell exploded shortly after midnight Wednesday, when news first broke that GOP leaders would begin briefing rank-and-file members about the case.
The meetings took place in separate corners of the Capitol a few hours apart, and both drew unusually large scrums of reporters.
Facing a barrage of questions after the Senate’s lunch-time discussion, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) allowed a half-dozen reporters to cram into his elevator, where Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had already stepped inside.
“Easy, easy,” Cruz said as he was backed into the corner.
“This is an unusual situation isn’t it? We have a presidential candidate in here!” Barrasso exclaimed. He then allowed the gaggle to follow him onto the subway beneath the Capitol Dome and back to his Dirksen Building office, with more questions along the way.
Republicans have spent four months quietly crafting contingency plans for King v. Burwell. While the case drew some attention during oral arguments in March, the hype is approaching new heights with just a few days left of court decisions this summer.
This week’s meetings marked the first time that most members heard details about those plans.
Click here to read full article: By Sarah Ferris - 06/21/15 05:00 PM EDT
