Obama Makes a Play for Scalia (Politico)

March 01, 2012 at 10:33 PM
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With a Supreme Court dominated 5-4 by conservatives, the Obama administration is pulling out all the stops to win a conservative justice's vote for healthcare reform.

Though Antonin Scalia would seem the least likely to fill this need, Obama's team is openly courting him. A vote of approval from Scalia would not only save PPACA, it could help appease the conservatives who are against the act. It might not be such a long shot, either. The administration has dug up past Scalia opinions that might apply to rulings on healthcare reform, and it was 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey Sutton, a former Scalia clerk, who was the first Republican-appointed appellate court judge to uphold the law.