July 21, 2019 5:55PM 

# *King v. Burwell* Literally Overturned Part of the Affordable Care Act 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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I have a [letter to the editor](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/readers-critique-the-post-two-ways-in-which-fourth-of-july-coverage-was-lacking/2019/07/19/da8f9a96-aa4c-11e9-a3a6-ab670962db05_story.html) in today’s *Washington Post*:

> The July 8 front-page article “[Court’s ruling on ACA could cost GOP](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/5th-circuit-decision-on-aca-could-create-political-havoc-for-gop/2019/07/07/9c1dd558-939e-11e9-b58a-a6a9afaa0e3e_story.html?utm_term=.7006d7fde11e)” claimed that the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act “twice,” presumably referring to *National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius* in 2012 and *King v. Burwell* in 2015.
> 
> *King v. Burwell* did not uphold the ACA. On the contrary, *King* overturned part of the ACA.
> 
> The *King* plaintiffs challenged the Internal Revenue Service’s unexplained decision to spend funds that the ACA plainly does not authorize it to spend and to impose the ACA’s mandate penalty on millions of Americans whom the plain language of the statute exempts. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. [affirmed](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-114_qol1.pdf) that “the most natural reading” of the operative statutory language favors the plaintiffs. In other words, the plaintiffs sued to uphold the ACA as written.
> 
> The court nevertheless upheld the Obama administration’s rewriting of the statute. In so doing, it overturned part of the ACA.

Note the present tense. The ACA *still* says the IRS doesn’t have that authority.

No matter. [The ACA is dead. Long live ObamaCare.](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-aca-is-dead-long-live-obamacare)

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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