HHS Established Conscience and Religious Freedom Division

Under President Trump, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken steps to respect Americans' rights of religious liberty and conscience, which are protected under the First Amendment.  This is refreshing after, under President Obama, HHS was focused on advancing and defending regulations under Obamacare that infringed on Americans' important rights, including litigating several losing cases all the way to the Supreme Court.

Yesterday, HHS announced the formation of the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the HHS Office for Civil Rights:

The Conscience and Religious Freedom Division has been established to restore federal enforcement of our nation’s laws that protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious freedom.  OCR is the law enforcement agency within HHS that enforces federal laws protecting civil rights and conscience in health and human services, and the security and privacy of people’s health information.  The creation of the new division will provide HHS with the focus it needs to more vigorously and effectively enforce existing laws protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom, the first freedom protected in the Bill of Rights. . . .

OCR Director [Roger] Severino said, “Laws protecting religious freedom and conscience rights are just empty words on paper if they aren’t enforced. No one should be forced to choose between helping sick people and living by one’s deepest moral or religious convictions, and the new division will help guarantee that victims of unlawful discrimination find justice. For too long, governments big and small have treated conscience claims with hostility instead of protection, but change is coming and it begins here and now.” 

Acting HHS Secretary [Eric] Hargan said, “President Trump promised the American people that his administration would vigorously uphold the rights of conscience and religious freedom.  That promise is being kept today. The Founding Fathers knew that a nation that respects conscience rights is more diverse and more free, and OCR’s new division will help make that vision a reality.”

This announcement, coming directly before today's March for Life in Washington, is just the start of fulfilling the promises in President Trump's religious liberty Executive Order from last May.  

Predictably, the left is outraged, and the ACLU in particular has threatened litigation.  But also predictably, the ACLU's understanding of the Constitution is wrong, as attorney Margot Cleveland writes in National Review:

Underlying [ACLU's lawsuits against religious accommodations] is a common thread — and one that threatens the future of religious liberty in this country. . . . The ACLU is wrong: While the Supreme Court has long noted that accommodations can go too far, transforming the government from a protector of religious liberty to an enforcer of religious dogma, the sweeping assertion that accommodations that burden third parties violate the establishment clause simply does not hold true. . . .

Since the government created the onus on religion in the first place, eliminating that burden does not favor religion but rather represents, in the words of the Supreme Court, “benevolent neutrality” — something entirely consistent with the establishment clause. . . .

Throughout its history, the United States has long offered a variety of accommodations to protect citizens’ rights of conscience from the burdens imposed by otherwise just laws. Respect for the diverse tapestry of religious and non-religious beliefs and practices our country so richly enjoys is best achieved when the legislative branch crafts a compromise to protect both sincerely held religious beliefs and the compelling governmental interests at stake — something not possible if the establishment clause is stretched as the ACLU and others suggest.

We thank the Trump Administration for taking Americans' rights of religious liberty seriously and restoring the rule of law and respect for the Constitution in this important area.

GOP Taking Action on Failing Obamacare

As Senate Republicans work to fix the U.S. healthcare system, the Democrats have made fantastical and wild statements about the affects any change will have to people’s access to medical treatment. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell today announced that the Senate would not vote on the GOP healthcare bill until after recess, to continue perfecting the policy specifics. We must not forget, however, that the Affordable Care Act has already done considerable damage to our healthcare system.

As pointed to in the RNLA’s annual National Policy Conference on May 5th, the Affordable Care Act is not good for anyone. Dennis Kirk, an RNLA Lifetime member among the audience, asked the panel: “When do you anticipate total failure of Obamacare and can we beat that before it gets there?” Michael Franc, Hoover Institute’s Director of DC Programs, answered Mr. Kirk’s question first:

If the black letter had been adhered to it would have happened already. It’s structurally not sustainable, and the only reason it has been in effect for this long, frankly, is that there has been this serial ignorance, or ignoring the actual language, and finding ways to direct subsidies in that really shouldn’t go there under the way the law is written.

Congressman Keith Rothfus (PA-12), also on the panel, related that Obamacare is already failing:

In many areas it’s already felt. We learned this week 94 out of 99 counties in Iowa will not have a single insurer on their exchange to choose from.

Needless to say, the GOP is taking the initiative to reform another failing government program, while the Democrats have marching orders for obstructionism.

On a side note: Ilya Shapiro, who was the third member of the RNLA panel, is celebrating his birthday today. Happy Birthday, Ilya!

Obama Distracts, Speaker Ryan Leads

The US House just voted to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood.   While President Obama will veto this legislation, it is an important step as Speaker Paul Ryan says:

“Offer an agenda of solutions that gets America back on the right track.” “Either we have another four years like these years. . . .or we, as a conservative party, offer the country a very clear and compelling agenda on the big issues that are confronting us, that are facing us, to get the country on the right track. But I, Paul Ryan, am not going to be the one that assembles this single handedly. We're going to do this as a team, organically, every conservative in Congress is gonna have a hand in putting this together while we also listen to our constituents. While we also listen to the citizens out there who are really worried about the direction America's headed. So we're going to take these concerns, apply our founding principles to the problems of the day to offer an agenda of solutions that gets America back on the right track. If you don't think the country's headed in the right direction—which we don't—we have an obligation, we have a mandate to give people of this nation a choice for a better way forward and that's exactly what we intend on doing.”

Further as Speaker Ryan said today:

"Today, the House is going to put on the president’s desk a bill that repeals Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood. This is the first time—this is the first time in five years we will finally put a bill on his desk that defunds Obamacare. . . .

"We know the president wants to fill this year with distractions. He wants to talk about anything but his failures. We’re not going to let him take us off course. Too much is at stake.  

"If we’re ever to get our country back on track, we need to make this year about ideas, not about Obama’s distractions. And that is exactly what we are going to do."

The contrasts are clear.  Thank you for Speaker Ryan for focusing on ideas and issues, not distractions.  

House Republicans win Major Legal Victory

When House Republicans filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration over the unauthorized spending to support Obamacare, President Obama labeled the effort a "political stunt."  On Wednesday a Federal Judge strongly disagreed as described by The New York Times (emphasis added):

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the House had the right to sue the Obama administration over billions of dollars in health care spending, a decision that poses a new legal threat to the health care law and gave congressional Republicans a victory in their claims of executive overreach by the White House.

In a significant defeat for the administration, United States District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer found that the House had made a compelling case that suing the White House was the only way to preserve its constitutional power to control federal spending and stop the administration from distributing $136 billion in insurance company subsidies that Republicans say Congress never approved.

Speaker John Boehner stated:

“I cannot overstate how big a victory this is for limited government and our first principles.  Time and again, the president has chosen to ignore the will of the American people and to re-write laws on his own without a vote of the Congress.  That’s not the way our system of government was designed to work.  If this president can get away with making his own laws, future presidents will have the ability to do so as well.

 “This is an unprecedented challenge by the House, and one the administration tried to avoid at all costs.  So this victory sends a strong message that no one – especially no president – is above being held accountable to the Constitution.”

It looks like the Republican Congress is the one that is following the Constitution and it is President Obama who in arguing for his unlawful actions is playing politics.  

Republican Leaders React to King v. Burwell Ruling

The Supreme Court released an opinion on King v. Burwell today that caused Republican leaders to express their disappointment in the legislative-like and politically charged ruling.

As Scalia stated,

…The Court’s decision reflects the philosophy that judges should endure whatever interpretive distortions it takes in order to correct a supposed flaw in the statutory machinery. That philosophy ignores the American people’s decision to give Congress “[a]ll legislative Powers” enumerated in the Constitution. Art. I, §1. They made Congress, not this Court, responsible for both making laws and mending them… Words no longer have meaning if an Exchange that is not established by a State is “established by the State.

House Speaker John Boehner declares,

ObamaCare is fundamentally broken, increasing health care costs for millions of Americans.  Today’s ruling doesn’t change that fact.  Republicans will continue to listen to American families and work to protect them from the consequences of ObamaCare.  And we will continue our efforts to repeal the law and replace it with patient-centered solutions that meet the needs of seniors, small business owners, and middle-class families.

House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers notes,

Today’s Supreme Court decision does not change one undeniable fact: Obamacare was broken yesterday, and it is broken today. While I respect the Court, I fundamentally disagree with its decision – one that sets a precarious precedent and jeopardizes Congress’s authority to write and execute our laws. Despite today’s ruling, Republicans will keep fighting. We will not waver in our fight to champion health care reforms that put patients – not Washington, D.C. bureaucrats – first.

Senator Ted Cruz highlighted the Supreme Court’s politically charged decision as Cruz stated today,

Today’s decision in King v. Burwell is judicial activism, plain and simple. For the second time in just a few years, a handful of unelected judges has rewritten the text of Obamacare in order to impose this failed law on millions of Americans. The first time, the Court ignored federal law and magically transformed a statutory ‘penalty’ into a ‘tax.’ Today, these robed Houdinis transmogrified a ‘federal exchange’ into an exchange ‘established by the State.’

Senator Rand Paul said,

This decision turns both the rule of law and common sense on its head. Obamacare raises taxes, harms patients and doctors, and is the wrong fix for America's health care system.

Senator Marco Rubio tweeted,

I disagree with the Court’s ruling and believe they have once again erred in trying to correct the mistakes made by President Obama... and Congress in forcing ObamaCare on the American people. Despite the Court’s decision, ObamaCare is still a bad law that is having a negative impact on our country and on millions of Americans. I remain committed to repealing this bad law and replacing it... I remain committed to repealing this bad law and replacing it... We need Consumer Care, not ObamaCare.

Senator Lindsey Graham stated,

This case was brought before the Supreme Court because President Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress rammed through their hastily and deeply flawed legislation to create Obamacare, apparently without even proofreading their own bill. The result has been a disaster from day one. Today’s decision only reinforces why we need a president who will bring about real reform that repeals Obamacare and replaces it with a plan that expands consumer choice, increases coverage, delivers better value for the dollar, and gives states more control, without stifling job creation.

Governor Scott Walker said,

Today’s Supreme Court ruling upholding the administration’s implementation of ObamaCare means Republicans in the House and Senate must redouble their efforts to repeal and replace this destructive and costly law. From the beginning, it was clear that ObamaCare would fail the American people and this has proven to be true across the country and in Wisconsin.

Governor Jeb Bush noted,

I am disappointed by today’s Supreme Court ruling in the King v. Burwell case. But this decision is not the end of the fight against Obamacare. This fatally-flawed law imposes job-killing mandates, causes spending in Washington to skyrocket by $1.7 trillion, raises taxes by $1 trillion and drives up health care costs. Instead of fixing our health care system, it made the problems worse.

Dr. Ben Carson also tweeted,

Deeply disappointed by #SCOTUS ruling. Fundamental increase of govt control. I'm working to ensure next Pres repeals and replaces #Obamacare… We must #Repeal and replace #Obamacare with sensible consumer empowering solutions that remove govt from the patient/doctor relationship.

Carly Fiorina stated,

It is outrageous that the Supreme Court once again rewrote ObamaCare to save this deeply flawed law despite the plain text and in the face of overwhelming evidence that the law is not working for the majority of Americans. ObamaCare has not lived up to what we were promised. Instead of more affordable care, premiums are rising.

Mike Huckabee said,

Today's King v. Burwell decision, which protects and expands ObamaCare, is an out-of-control act of judicial tyranny. Our Founding Fathers didn't create a "do-over" provision in our Constitution that allows unelected, Supreme Court justices the power to circumvent Congress and rewrite bad laws. The Supreme Court cannot legislate from the bench, ignore the Constitution, and pass a multi-trillion dollar "fix" to ObamaCare simply because Congress misread what the states would actually do. The architects and authors of ObamaCare were intentional in the way they wrote the law.

Michael Carvin to Speak at the 2015 National Policy Conference

The RNLA is pleased to announce that Michael Carvin will be speaking at the 2015 National Policy Conference. Carvin will be speaking on the recent case King v. Burwell, a case in which he recently argued before the Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act. King v. Burwell addressed whether the IRS may permissibly promulgate regulations to extend tax-credit subsidies to coverage purchased through exchanges established by the federal government under Section 1321 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In what’s arguably the most important case of the court’s term, Carvin will argued for plaintiffs seeking to upend a fundamental aspect of Obamacare, and Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. again defended the government. Both are hailed as brilliant litigators steeped in case law, and their first round in 2012 concluded with each man able to claim a victory of sorts.

This rematch is unlikely to end in the same way. “The operation was a success, but the patient died,” Carvin told others after the justices ruled three years ago. They’d bought his argument that Congress didn’t have a constitutional right to mandate that Americans buy health insurance. But their 5-4 decision upheld the law on the grounds that Congress could tax people who didn’t get coverage.

Carvin focuses on constitutional, appellate, civil rights, and civil litigation against the federal government. He has argued numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court and in virtually every federal appeals court. These cases include the recent constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act and the decisions invalidating Sarbanes-Oxley's accounting board, preventing the Justice Department from obtaining monetary relief against the tobacco industry under RICO, overturning the federal government's plan to statistically adjust the census, limiting the Justice Department's ability to create "majority-minority" districts, and upholding Proposition 209's ban on racial preferences in California. Carvin was one of the lead lawyers, and argued before the Florida Supreme Court, on behalf of George W. Bush in the 2000 election Florida recount controversy. He also has represented state governments, financial institutions, telecommunications, and energy companies in "takings," First Amendment, civil rights, and statutory challenges to federal government actions.