Monday, September 12, 2011

U.S. reply brief due today in Coons v. Geithner

The United States's reply brief in support of its motion for summary judgment in Coons v. Geithner is due today  in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. This case is slightly more interesting than the average one still kicking around at the trial court level because it challenges the constitutionality of some of the ACA's provisions concerning the Independent Payment Advisory Board (or IPAB). That challenge, though, has been whittled down to the claim that the ACA effects an unconstitutionally broad delegation of legislative authority--a ground on which the Supreme Court has failed to invalidate a single federal law since 1935, and has invoked a grand total of twice in the nation's history. So the odds are pretty long.

The United States's brief is not yet posted to PACER. We will have a copy available here as soon as it appears on the electronic docket.

UPDATE: The United States's brief is now available here.