Federal court halts Obamacare appeal, deals setback to president

The Washington Times reports:

A federal appeals court halted a key Obamacare case on Monday, agreeing to put off proceedings until after President-elect Trump takes office and figures out how he wants to proceed — and dealing a blow to President Obama in the meantime.

In a short order the judges put the case in abeyance, and told both sides to give an update by Feb. 21, or a month after Mr. Trump is sworn in.

It’s one of a series of cases that are being delayed to give the new administration a chance to put its stamp on legal strategy. Obama administration lawyers had agreed to the delays in immigration cases, but had fought against a halt in the Obamacare lawsuit.

The case stemmed from a challenge the House of Representatives filed against Mr. Obama’s Health and Human Services Department, which made Obamacare payments to insurance companies despite Congress zeroing the funding out in its appropriations bills.

A lower court sided with the House, ruling both that lawyers had standing to sue and that the spending was illegal. Mr. Obama’s lawyers had fought to keep the appeal on track, but the new order is a setback.

The struggles of ObamaCare.