#ObamaCare ruling to come down today from #SCOTUS? UPDATED: Thursday is the day?

Fox News reports that both sides are bracing, and are preparing responses in advance of the ruling:

Republicans and Democrats are girding for a politically explosive week as the Supreme Court prepares to rule as early as Monday on the federal health care overhaul.

The ruling, as campaign advisers are well aware, has the potential to re-shape this year’s presidential race. For weeks, each party has been positioning itself to make the best of whatever outcome emerges from the tight-lipped justices.

And the implications go far beyond the 2012 election. The outcome of the health care case, involving one of the most divisive domestic policies in modern times, will affect millions of Americans. Calling for the law’s survival, supporters trumpet the expanded consumer protections and subsidies that make insurance more available and affordable. Calling for its defeat, critics blast what they describe as an unconstitutional requirement to buy health insurance, and warn the law will pummel businesses with its mandates and fines.

In the run-up to the historic ruling, each party is crafting a game-plan.

House Speaker John Boehner this past week cautioned the GOP ranks against “spiking” the ball if the mandate is struck down. He and other Republicans say the party will remain focused on repealing whatever parts of the law remain following the upcoming ruling. And, they say, they’ll pursue “step-by-step” reforms to replace the law no matter the court’s decision.

[…]

In a memo to colleagues, House GOP Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, urged members to prepare for three possible rulings: a full repeal, a partial repeal involving the mandate or a law left intact.

[…]

While publicly expressing confidence that the law will be upheld, both the White House and congressional Democrats are said to be quietly planning for the possibility of at least a repeal of the mandate.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi admitted that this outcome could threaten the entire law. “You have to have the mandate in order for this to work from a financial standpoint,” she said.

If the ruling comes down this morning, I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to blog about it right away outside of noting the ruling itself. Stay tuned to the SCOTUS Blog for further developments and, of course, feel free to comment here. If I’m not mistaken, rulings are usually released to the public at 10 a.m. ET.

*Bites nails nervously*

Phineas butts in: ST will have to keep biting her nails for a few days more. The court issued two rulings today, including a partial upholding of Arizona’s immigration law, but nothing about ObamaCare. That means we probably find out Thursday. Who knew the Justices were such teases? To give you something to think about until then, here’s an interesting observation from Bryan Preston at PJM:

A poll of former SCOTUS clerks finds that a majority expect the individual mandate to go down. By 57 to 35 percent, the former clerks now expect the mandate to get struck down, which is a 22-point swing from March, prior to six hours of oral arguments that the court entertained. Additionally, 79% of those clerks now see the individual mandate as either only partially severable or not severable from the rest of ObamaCare. If the justices see it the same way, striking down the mandate is more likely than not to mean striking down the entire law.

That would be sweet, wouldn’t it?

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