Jay Sekulow: ObamaCare lawsuits could reach Supreme Court

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Jay Sekulow discusses lawsuit against ObamaCare subsidies

Federal judge denies government request to dismiss case

A federal judge’s decision to allow a case to go forward that challenges the constitutionality of ObamaCare’s tax penalties could signal trouble for the President’s signature law, Jay Sekulow, chief legal counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice and the attorney at the center of the case, told Megyn Kelly Tuesday.

“What’s at stake is the IRS taking on a broader scope of what it’s allowed to regulate or impose,” Sekulow said on “The Kelly File.”

The lawsuit, which was presented by West Virginia small-business owner David Klemencic and is part of the larger case Halbig v. Sebelius, focuses on the constitutionality of the federal government’s ability to impose penalties on employers and individuals for not owning health insurance, penalties enforced by the Internal Revenue Service.

“So the IRS increased its jurisdiction by saying even in the federal controlled exchanges, which is most of them...the IRS can insert these penalties against employers and individuals,” explained Sekulow.

Sekulow also said that the case could soon be heading to the Supreme Court, along with a host of other lawsuits aimed at the president’s health care law.

“And now you have the disaster that people are going to be penalized for something they can’t even comply with,” said Sekulow, referring to the numerous problems of accessibility that the website healthcare.gov has been suffering. “You've got so many issues hitting ObamaCare at the same time, it falls on itself.”

He added that he could not see how the situation would be resolved without a radical change, either by the Obama administration, or by Congress.

“Is the government going to come back and say 'we want single payer,' which was the plan all along? Or are we going to see a situation where Congress is going to kind of take control and get this thing fixed?" Sekulow asked. "20 percent of our economy is at stake.”