By ,
Published January 25, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," September 28, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Whether you're for it or against it, it has a giant impact on you. We're close to finding out. Is the national healthcare law constitutional or not constitutional? There have been a few new developments in the last few hours. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi joins us. Good evening. We're old friends, but I'll call you general, because this is your job. Tell me, general, what's the latest news? What happened in the case today?
PAM BONDI, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: First of all, it's very hard for you to call me general, Greta, but you asked the question, are we who's winning? I'll tell you who is winning -- the taxpayers, consumers, and our businesses right now, because we filed a petition today asking the Supreme Court to take out case. And we know that the Obama administration, they're not going back before the 11th circuit, so we are very hopeful that we will make it to the United States Supreme Court this term.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, now what happened in the 11th circuit, all these appellate courts across the country, and you were in the 11. And you won some and lost some. The part that you won is that the individual mandate was unconstitutional. Is that correct?
BONDI: Yes, absolutely. That is the crux, the main part of our argument. The two other arguments, of course, were the Medicaid coercion, which we've always said, there's been -- there's very little case law on the Medicaid coercion they did it with much hesitation and without much serious thought, because we've always said that's got to be the issue argued before the Supreme Court.
And we also did not prevail on the severability clause, however even the federal government's conceded that without that mandate the entire Obamacare falls. So we prevailed on the major issue, of course, which is that the federal government cannot force us to purchase a product simply by be being alive, and that it's unconstitutional.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, so I assume that the Justice Department is going to take that -- the fact that you won in the 11th circuit, they'll go to the Supreme Court on that, cross-petition you, and you'll petition which is the Medicaid expansion, right? The Supreme Court, asking them to consider it -- go ahead.
BONDI: Exactly right. They filed theirs today, by the way. The federal government filed their petition late today, and it's the same old thing. They're saying they can do this under the commerce clause, and they're also still saying it's a tax, when of course our president has been all over national TV saying it's not a tax.
VAN SUSTEREN: I remember Speaker Pelosi, they didn't want to call it's a tax when they're debating it.
BONDI: That's right.
VAN SUSTEREN: They're sort of stuck with that one.
If you've done your petition today, and with the fact that the Supreme Court doesn't exactly, you know, work long weeks, I don't think, and long schedules. They get that three-month vacation I always complain about it. But tell me, will it likely be decided by the end of the next term, June of 2012?
BONDI: Yes, 12, sure. The timing is we each have 30 days to respond to the other's petition, to file our brief, and then days to respond to that. By the end of the year, we will know whether the Supreme Court will agree to take this issue.
On that note, this is a case of truly overriding national importance, which is one of the things they consider. We have a split among circuits throughout the country, which is another thing they consider in taking a case. So we have very compelling reasons for them to take case as well as this is a law enacted by Congress that our courts have ruled to be unconstitutional.
Having said that, Greta, we hope that they will take it this term. We'll know by the end of the year. If they do, arguments will be in the spring and we will have a resolution by June 2012, which is what we've been asking for all along.
VAN SUSTEREN: If you win on the mandate, that strips away a huge funding part of this whole bill, central to it. It really does gut it.
BONDI: That's right.
VAN SUSTEREN: You also have the situation that the Obama administration has given waivers to businesses to be out of it. Some people have gotten waivers. I think there's another kind of waiver, where states can opt out. So the funding on this bill is getting eroded. I can't imagine how this bill, you know, remains, unless you lose on that in the Supreme Court, I guess, the mandate. Otherwise this bill is in deep trouble.
BONDI: You're absolutely right, Greta. Even the federal government has conceded that.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, it will be interesting to find out. We'll be watching of course very carefully. But it's 26 states, is that how many you have on board?
BONDI: It's 26 states, the National Federation of Independent Business, and two individual plaintiffs. That's why we have the most comprehensive lawsuit and we have the best opinion right now in the country. So we're really looking forward to getting to the Supreme Court as soon as possible.
VAN SUSTEREN: But you also have 26 attorneys general, and it's like getting 26 lawyers to agree on anything. That's the bad side. Anyway, nice to see you, general.
BONDI: You too. Thank you, Greta.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/multistate-obamacare-challenge-supreme-court-bound