President Barack Obama's significant health care repair hit its first major legal roadblock Monday, thrown into doubt by a federal judge's statement that the heart of the sweeping legislation is unauthorized. The decision handed Republican foes ammunition for their cancel effort next year as the law heads for approximately certain eventual decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The verdict by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson, a Republican appointee in Richmond, Va., marked the first unbeaten court challenge to any segment of the new law, subsequent two earlier rulings in its favor by Democratic-appointed judges.
The law's central prerequisite for nearly all Americans to carry insurance is unauthorized, well beyond Congress' power to command, Hudson ruled, agreeing with the disagreement of Virginia's Republican attorney general plus many of the GOP lawmakers who will take manage of the U.S. House in January. Hudson deprived of Virginia's appeal to strike down the law in its entirety or block it from being implemented while his ruling is appealed by the Obama administration.
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