1. The IRS Warned the Obama Administration That Its Decision to Pay ObamaCare Subsidies to Insurers Was Illegal - via Reason
A recently published deposition from a top tax official provides more evidence that the Obama administration not only acted illegally when deciding to pay Obamacare subsidies to insurers—but that they did so knowing full well that the move was not justified.
First, some backstory: Two weeks ago, a federal appeals court ruled that the Obama administration had illegally paid insurers billions in subsidies under Obamacare. The law’s cost-sharing subsidies (which provided an added benefit for people between 100 and 250 percent of the poverty line, are separate from the subsidies that offset the price of insurance premiums) were authorized under the law, but not appropriated by Congress.
Indeed, in 2014, the Obama administration submitted an appropriations request to Congress, but Congress declined the request. The White House went ahead and started paying insurers anyway. The payments amount to about $7 billion this year, and will tally about $130 billion over the next decade. (Payments will continue while the case is appealed.) Read more here...
2. Back Stage with Congressman Ron DeSantis
3. GOP: Administration Ignoring ObamaCare Subpoenas - via The Hill
House Republicans say that the Obama administration is ignoring subpoenas for documents related to ObamaCare spending they call illegal.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tuesday calling on it to comply.
The committees issued the subpoenas on March 29, but Republicans say they have received only one heavily redacted page of one document from HHS in response. Read more here...
4. Cuccinelli's New Gig: Keeping an Eye on Washington Regulators - via The Washington Post
Since narrowly losing the 2013 Virginia governor’s race to Terry McAuliffe, former attorney general Ken Cuccinelli II has dabbled in oyster farming, launched a gun-rights law firm, criss-crossed the country for Sen. Ted Cruz, championed conservative U.S. Senate candidates and mulled another bid for the Executive Mansion.
On Tuesday, he assumed yet another role: Washington watchdog.
Cuccinelli joined the conservative FreedomWorks Foundation as its general counsel, a job that involves helping state attorneys general around the country combat overreaching federal regulations — something his new boss refers to as “the disturbing advance of the regulatory state.” Read more here...
5. Supreme Court Decision Underscores Growing Concern Over Regulatory Overreach - by Ashley Nicole Baker
Given the harassment and everyday burdens that federal bureaucrats subject small businesses and families to, it seems obvious that decisions could be challenged by the basic process of judicial review. This right, however, was apparently not entirely evident.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously in favor of property owners in a decision that weakens the EPA’s authority under the Clean Water Act. The ruling in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc gives landowners and businesses the right to go to court when federal regulators trample their rights to property and due process. Read more here...
Jason Pye
Communications Director, FreedomWorks
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