Washington Post (The Fix)
By Amber Phillips
May 26, 2015
President Obama's second-term agenda, it seems, is in the hands of the courts.
Same-sex
marriage. Obamacare. Climate change. And now immigration. And in many
cases, there is significant doubt about whether his signature
initiatives will stand legal scrutiny.
The
latest blow to Obama's second-term plans came Tuesday when a federal
appeals court in New Orleans denied the administration's request to move
forward with implementing his expanded
executive action on immigration to defer deportation for millions of
undocumented immigrants.
Texas
and 25 other states have sued to have it shelved. The drama is sure to
ensue for months, writes the Post's David Nakamura, and throw into doubt
whether the fight over all
of Obama's executive actions on immigration will be settled before he
leaves office in January 2017.
Here's a look at other Obama agenda items that are now in the court's hands, and where they stand.
Same-sex marriage
Obama
is the first American president to support same-sex marriage -- though
his public evolution apparently was slower than his personal one. Before
he backed gay marriage, he
called for repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. And since, he has
ordered federal agencies to recognize same-sex marriages and
partnerships like any other married couple.
But
the Supreme Court could have the final say on gay marriage's place in
America when it hands down a high-profile decision in the next month on
whether states that ban gay marriage
violate a couple's constitutional right. The Supreme Court went Obama's
way in 2013 when it allowed the federal government to recognize legally
married same-sex couples.
The
nation's highest court is hearing Obergefell v. Hodges, a case that
examines if same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
Here's what you need to know about the
case that could make gay marriage legal across the nation. (Julie
Percha/The Washington Post)
Obamacare
The
president's signature health-care reform law has already survived one
Supreme Court challenge when in 2012, a divided court (5-4) narrowly
upheld the mandate for people to have
insurance by determining it was a tax.
This
time around, the court is mulling another major portion of the law:
Whether the federal government can subsidize health insurance for low-
and middle-income people who bought
their insurance on the federally run Web site, HealthCare.gov, in
states that didn't set up their own exchanges. Challengers say the law
as written only supports subsidies for the 16 states that set up
exchanges.
If
the court rules in King v. Burwell that those subsidies are
unconstitutional, upwards of 8 million people in 36 states could lose
their subsidies. It would undo a key part to
the Affordable Care Act -- and possibly unravel the whole law.
Obama
told U.S. Coast Guard cadets last week that failing to act on climate
change will "set a course for disaster." At the same time, the Supreme
Court is debating whether his
method of cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions is even
constitutional.
The
Supreme Court heard arguments in March on whether the Environmental
Protection Agency's crackdown on coal- and fire-powered plants' mercury
emissions failed to consider undue
costs on the power plants.
The
justices are expected to share their decision in June. But it is
expected to be just an early challenge to the president's executive
climate change initiatives, say environmental
watchers. (Sensing a theme here?)
More immigration
The
lawsuit against Obama's plan to shield 5 million additional
undocumented immigrants from deportation isn't the only court challenge
to the president's executive actions on immigration.
House
Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is considering putting to a vote a
separate lawsuit against the president for expanding the program in
November. This is in addition to the
vote the House of Representatives took (along party lines) last summer
to sue the president over his overall use of executive authority.
Neither of Congress' lawsuits has made its way to a higher court -- but with Obama's luck lately, they just might.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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