Robert Gibbs' prediction at the 2014 Benefits Selling Expo that Obamacare's employer mandate will be the "first to go" from the law made national headlines. And it also quickly elicited responses from Obamacare allies.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., maintained Sunday that PPACA's employer mandate will — and must — remain part of the law.
Appearing Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," Pelosi said that the "employer mandate, the individual mandate are an integral part" of the law, "This is an initiative that has strong pillars in it that relate to each other."
She also touted last week's announcement that 7.1 million people have signed up for Obamacare and said the high participation might convince more Democrats who distanced themselves from the law to embrace it and its success.
Pelosi's comments followed a more immediate response from White House press secretary Jay Carney that his predecessor's prediction was simply wrong.
Gibbs, the former White House press secretary and longtime advisor to President Obama, predicted last week during a keynote address that the administration would soon kill the employer mandate.
