- Location
- Riverton, UT
I received this from senator Hatch.
Mr. John Johnston
9907 South Eden Ridge Drive
South Jordan, UT 84095
Dear Mr. Johnston:
Thank you for writing to me to share your thoughts about actions to delay Obamacare taken by President Barack Obama. I appreciate hearing from you.
Following the Administration’s decision to delay enforcement of the employer mandate included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”; P.L. 111-148), commonly known as “Obamacare,” many in Congress have called for examination of the legal authority to make such changes. In the House of Representatives, the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing on July 17, 2013, with a witness from the Department of the Treasury on the employer mandate delay. In addition, on July 22, 2013, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany Jr. sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew seeking additional information about the decision to delay the employer mandate.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) has also examined the legal authority of the delay of implementation for the employer mandate. In this legal overview, the CRS notes among other findings that the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) excludes judicial review when the “agency action is committed to agency discretion by law.” In Heckler v. Cheney, the Supreme Court held that this exception to APA review presumptively applies when an agency exercises discretion to initiate enforcement actions, as is the case in the current situation. These findings correspond with statements from Treasury Department officials that the Department has authority to grant transition relief when implementing new legislation, and that the delay is within the Administration’s rights as an exercise of administrative authority.
In response to the Administration’s decision to delay this portion of Obamacare, on July 10, I joined 45 of my Senate colleagues in sending a letter to President Obama urging him to permanently delay the implementation of Obamacare for all Americans. I also spoke on this subject on the Senate floor on July 30. Ultimately, however, I do not feel that a one-year or even a permanent delay of the employer and individual mandates is enough. That is why I have introduced the American Job Protection Act (S. 20) to repeal the job-crushing employer mandate, and the American Liberty Restoration Act (S. 19) to repeal the individual mandate.
I remain committed to repealing Obamacare. The American people know that this law violates our deepest constitutional principles of limited government, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling. Obamacare is an unprecedented power grab by this White House that will continue to increase health care costs, add to our skyrocketing national debt, and put Washington bureaucrats between patients and their doctors. The Court’s ruling does not change the fact that a majority of people in Utah and across America wants this law repealed and I will continue the fight against this assault on individual liberty and limited government.
Again, thank you for writing to me to share your thoughts and concerns.
Your Senator,
Orrin G. Hatch
United States Senator
Mr. John Johnston
9907 South Eden Ridge Drive
South Jordan, UT 84095
Dear Mr. Johnston:
Thank you for writing to me to share your thoughts about actions to delay Obamacare taken by President Barack Obama. I appreciate hearing from you.
Following the Administration’s decision to delay enforcement of the employer mandate included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”; P.L. 111-148), commonly known as “Obamacare,” many in Congress have called for examination of the legal authority to make such changes. In the House of Representatives, the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing on July 17, 2013, with a witness from the Department of the Treasury on the employer mandate delay. In addition, on July 22, 2013, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany Jr. sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew seeking additional information about the decision to delay the employer mandate.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) has also examined the legal authority of the delay of implementation for the employer mandate. In this legal overview, the CRS notes among other findings that the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) excludes judicial review when the “agency action is committed to agency discretion by law.” In Heckler v. Cheney, the Supreme Court held that this exception to APA review presumptively applies when an agency exercises discretion to initiate enforcement actions, as is the case in the current situation. These findings correspond with statements from Treasury Department officials that the Department has authority to grant transition relief when implementing new legislation, and that the delay is within the Administration’s rights as an exercise of administrative authority.
In response to the Administration’s decision to delay this portion of Obamacare, on July 10, I joined 45 of my Senate colleagues in sending a letter to President Obama urging him to permanently delay the implementation of Obamacare for all Americans. I also spoke on this subject on the Senate floor on July 30. Ultimately, however, I do not feel that a one-year or even a permanent delay of the employer and individual mandates is enough. That is why I have introduced the American Job Protection Act (S. 20) to repeal the job-crushing employer mandate, and the American Liberty Restoration Act (S. 19) to repeal the individual mandate.
I remain committed to repealing Obamacare. The American people know that this law violates our deepest constitutional principles of limited government, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling. Obamacare is an unprecedented power grab by this White House that will continue to increase health care costs, add to our skyrocketing national debt, and put Washington bureaucrats between patients and their doctors. The Court’s ruling does not change the fact that a majority of people in Utah and across America wants this law repealed and I will continue the fight against this assault on individual liberty and limited government.
Again, thank you for writing to me to share your thoughts and concerns.
Your Senator,
Orrin G. Hatch
United States Senator
