You may recall that, on November 22, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied in part and granted in part the United States's motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' complaint. The one claim that survived Judge Dowd's order was the assertion that the minimum coverage requirement exceeds Congress's enumerated powers.
On Friday, the United States filed a motion in that case to stay the proceedings. Specifically, the federal government argued that "[b]ecause the court of appeals’ resolution of [Thomas More Law Center v. Obama] is virtually certain to control the outcome of this case, the defendants respectfully request a stay of proceedings in this case until the completion of appellate proceedings in Thomas More." The Thomas More case is currently pending in the Sixth Circuit, also the circuit in which the District Court for the Northern District of Ohio is situated. You can read the United States's stay motion in its entirety here.
The plaintiffs in United States Citizens oppose a stay, and they have until next Monday to file their memorandum in opposition. Incidentally, the brief for the appellant (Thomas More Law Center) in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama is due December 15.
