LogFAQs > #924482333

xp1337 posted...

Well, yes, the argument that it's not severable so "welp the whole thing's gotta go" is what's absurd but that's where we are in 2019.

Well, suppose Congress had added a sentence to the TCJA: "Nothing in this act shall be construed to modify or abrogate any portion of the Affordable Care Act, including the individual mandate which is an essential component of the Affordable Care Act, except for the modification of the amount of the shared responsibility payment set forth herein."

Then it would be obvious what the intent was. The effect would be the same as if the ACA was repealed and immediately passed again without a tax penalty for the individual mandate. So, it would be like if Congress passed a law saying:

1. Every school is required to teach Christianity.
2. There shall be no consequences for any school that doesn't teach Christianity.
3. Congress authorizes $X in funding for poor school districts.
4. If any part of this act is held to be unconstitutional, the rest is inseverable and will not be effective.

Well, this one will be fun. I think the elephant in the room is that Congress is not taking care when drafting these statutes anymore - Congress is handing out statutes that are hundreds of pages long an hour before the final vote at 2 a.m. and then having a senator "debate" the bill by telling stories about his family and refusing to answer any questions about the bill. So the whole legal fiction that Congress knows what it is doing is really fiction at this point. But courts are bound to abide by it.
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