Senators press Barrett on if ObamaCare can survive mandate being struck down | TheHill

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Wednesday signaled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could survive a court challenge from the Trump administration.Top senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee quizzed President TrumpDonald John TrumpLabor secretary's wife tests positive for COVID-19 Russia shuts down Trump admin's last-minute push to strike nuclear arms deal before election Trump makes appeal to suburban women at rally: 'Will you please like me?' MORE's nominee on a looming case that could determine the fate of the ACA.Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamFive takeaways from Barrett's Supreme Court grilling Barrett says she did not strike down ObamaCare in moot court case Ted Cruz asks Jim Carrey for copy of his 'hellbound' Cruz artwork MORE (R-S.C.) and Sen. Dianne FeinsteinDianne Emiel FeinsteinFive takeaways from Barrett's Supreme Court grilling Barrett declines to say if Trump can unilaterally delay election Barrett sidesteps Democratic questions amid high-stakes grilling MORE (Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, kicked off the third day of Barrett's hearing pressing her on the health care case, and if the individual mandate, nixed by Congress in 2017, can be stuck down without tanking the entire law.Barrett did not say how she would rule in the case that will be before the Supreme Court on Nov. 10 but noted that judges generally try to save the underlying law when possible. When Barrett agreed that it was "true" that judges try to preserve the overall law when weighing if a provision can be removed, one of the key points of debate in the looming ObamaCare case, Graham added: "That's the law folks." Barrett's remarks appear to contrast the basic argument from the challengers, a group of more than a dozen Republican states, who say that because Republicans zeroed out the individual mandate, which required most Americans purchase health care, the entire Obama-era health care law is unconstitutional and should be struck down.