CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than a week until arguments on former President Barack Obama’s health care law take place, a federal appeals court on Monday identified the three judges who will hear the lawsuit.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said Judges Carolyn King, Jennifer Elrod and Kurt Engelhardt will hear the case.
The judges will be responsible for considering a December ruling on “Obamacare” and its individual mandate; Judge Reed O’Connor struck down the entire law in December because of its individual mandate, which Congress eliminated in the 2017 tax law.
King was nominated to the court by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. Walker was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2007. Engelhardt was nominated by President Donald Trump last year, and the Senate confirmed the nomination in May 2018.
U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., were among the 62 senators who voted to confirm Engelhardt.
Oral arguments are scheduled for July 9 on O’Connor’s decision; a coalition of Republican states, including West Virginia, put forward the challenge following the elimination of the individual mandate penalty. The Justice Department in March came out in support of the December verdict.
A coalition of Democrat-led states and the House of Representatives filed briefs in May in defense of “Obamacare.”
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last week asked for additional briefs on if states and the House of Representatives have the authority to intervene in the appeal. The court noted a U.S. Supreme Court verdict made last month in which justices determined the Virginia House of Delegates could not appeal a district court’s ruling on racial gerrymandering.