The #5thCircuit's ruling also rejected the govt's request to remove certain offending words from the #ACA provision at issue - a process called severing - in order to make that part of the #law conform to the #Constitution. That issue is also part of the appeal before #SCOTUS.

The #SupremeCourt's decision is expected by the end of June.

Before the case was narrowed to the #AppointmentsClause issue, the lawsuit included a #religious objection to being required to cover pre-exposure #prophylaxis for #HIV. They claimed that such drugs "facilitate & encourage homosexual behavior, prostitution, sexual promiscuity & intravenous drug use."

"The secretary can remove them at will, & the threat of removal is the ultimate tool for control over final decisions on recommendations," #Trump #DOJ lawyers wrote.

For this & other reasons, DOJ lawyers argued, the #USPSTF's members should be seen as so-called "inferior officers," meaning they can be lawfully appointed by an executive branch dept head - like #HHS secy #RFKJr - & do not require #Senate confirmation under the #Constitution.

The #conservative #5thCircuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2024 that the task force's structure violates the #Constitution, as plaintiffs claimed.

The govt's appeal of the 5th Circuit's decision initially was filed by Democratic President #Biden's admin before being taken up by Republican Pres #Trump's admin.

Trump's admin argued in a #SCOTUS brief that the #USPSTF's #PreventiveCare recs cannot become legally binding on insurers w/o the #HHS secy's [#RFKJr] permission.

Several #Texas #Christians & 2 small businesses sued in federal court in Texas in 2020 to challenge the #USPSTF,'s structure. It is the latest in a years-long series of challenges to the 2010 #law, Pres #Obama's signature #legislative achievement, to reach #SCOTUS.

If the justices uphold the lower court's ruling, #health associations said in a filing, life-saving tests & treatments that have been cost-free would become subject to co-pays & deductibles.

The #Trump admin has appealed a lower court's determination that the US Preventive Services Task Force #USPSTF, which under the #ACA has a major hand in choosing what services will be covered, is composed of members who were not validly appointed. Its 16 members are appointed by the secy of #HHS [currently #RFKJr] w/o #Senate confirmation.

#SCOTUS is set on Monday to consider the legality of a provision of the #AffordableCareAct #law [aka #Obamacare], that helps ensure that #health #insurers cover #PreventiveMedicalCare such as #cancer screenings at no cost to #patients.

#Trump #USPSTF #ACA #HHS #RFKJr #Senate
#law #medicine #HealthCare

Sen #AmyKlobuchar said on CNN that #SCOTUS should hold #Trump admin ofcls in #contempt if they continue to ignore a court order to facilitate #KilmarAbregoGarcia’s return from #ElSalvador. Klobuchar said the court should appoint a special prosecutor, independent of Trump’s #DOJ, to uphold the rule of #law & charge ofcls who are responsible for Abrego Garcia’s wrongful #deportation, or have refused to facilitate his return. “We’re getting closer & closer to a #ConstitutionalCrisis,” she said.

Senator Chris #VanHollen, the Maryland Democrat who traveled to #ElSalvador last week & met with #KilmarAbregoGarcia, a man from his state who was wrongfully deported by the #Trump admin, said on CNN that Trump “is trying to change the subject” by claiming the man,, is a member of the MS-13 gang. He said Trump is “outright defying” #SCOTUS’ order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.

There's a lot of hope in this article:

#SCOTUS took this, leapfrogging a bunch of other courts. The order came out at 1AM Saturday. They didn't even wait for Alito to finish writing his dissent. This is HIGHLY unusual, and the article says "it is plain as day that the Supreme Court simply did not trust the Trump administration’s claims that it would not deport migrants over the weekend without due process"

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/04/supreme-court-blocks-deportations-donald-trump-alito-dissent.html