September 4, 2014 11:10AM # The D.C. Circuit Vacates Its Panel’s *Halbig* Decision By [Roger Pilon](https://www.cato.org/people/roger-pilon) --- SHARE A quick note on unfortunate happenings at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this morning: [ The court vacated](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3174287/Halbig%20-%20DC%20Cir%20en%20banc%20Order.pdf) its excellent July 22 decision in [ *Halbig v. Burwell*](http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/10125254d91f8bac85257d1d004e6176/$file/14-5018-1503850.pdf), which had held that Obamacare’s plain language precluded the federal government from subsidizing the health insurance premiums of policies people obtain through exchanges established by the *federal* government. Just hours after that July 22 decision came down, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the other way on the question in *[King v. Burwell](http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/king_usca4_20140722.pdf)*, setting up a circuit split and a reason for the Supreme Court to promptly decide the question, especially given the scope and magnitude of the issues at stake (36 states have declined to establish *state* exchanges, for which Obamacare *does* provided subsidies). Thus, with the D.C. Circuit now having vacated its three-judge panel’s decision and having agreed to rehear the case *en banc* (by the entire court), there is no longer a circuit split and less urgency for the Supreme Court to take up the issue. Other cases challenging the federal subsidies are coming along, but for the moment, this is where things are. For more on these issues, see [Ilya’s latest post](https://www.cato.org/blog/supreme-court-must-resolve-obamacare-chaos) and a [*WSJ* op-ed by Adam White](http://online.wsj.com/articles/adam-j-white-no-need-for-a-halbig-rehearing-1407195952), both written before this morning’s decision. It’s rare for any circuit, but especially for the D.C. Circuit, to grant *en banc* rehearings. But then nothing has been normal about Obamacare, which is what you should expect when so politicized a program is thrust upon the nation. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).