Win for Donald Trump, US judge rules against Obamacare

Donald Trump, US President and Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker-designate and Democrat

US federal judge has ruled the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare as unconstitutional due to a recent change in federal tax law. The ruling on Friday night by US District Judge Reed O'Connor of Texas overturns all of the 2010 healthcare law nationwide.

In his opinion, Judge O'Connor said: "(The) individual mandate can no longer be fairly read as an exercise of Congress's Tax Power and is still impermissible under the Interstate Commerce Clause-meaning the Individual Mandate is unconstitutional." He also held that the individual mandate is "essential to and inseverable from the remainder of the ACA".

The ruling came on the eve of the deadline for Americans to sign up for coverage in the federal insurance exchange created under the law. A spokeswoman for California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who leads a group of states opposing the lawsuit, said that the Democratic defenders of the law were ready to challenge the ruling.

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