Obama Administration Asks Judge to Dismiss Virginia’s Suit Against Health Care Bill
The Obama administration asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss Virginia’s challenge of the health-care overhaul law, arguing that the state has no standing to sue over the law and that Congress’s power to regulate interstate trade makes the measure constitutional.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) filed suit against the act moments after President Obama signed it into law in March. His suit is separate from a broader effort filed in Florida that includes 20 states.
Cuccinelli argued that Virginia was uniquely positioned to challenge the measure because of a law, adopted by the General Assembly this year, stating that individuals could not be forced to buy health insurance in Virginia.
But in a 39-page brief filed late Monday in U.S. District Court, attorneys acting on behalf of Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius wrote that Virginia’s law was an attempt to nullify the federal statute and did not create the legal conflict necessary to enable the state to sue.
