Obama pleased with solicitor general’s performance in healthcare arguments

President Obama is satisfied with Solicitor General Don Verrilli Jr.’s performance and the way the healthcare law was presented to the Supreme Court, White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Thursday.

“The president was pleased with the presentation and remains convinced that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional,” Carney told reporters at the daily briefing, adding that Obama “agrees with the opinions of conservative judges who have said the same thing
about the Affordable Care Act, that it’s constitutional.”

{mosads}Obama — who was in South Korea for the first two days of oral arguments — has yet to comment on the case before the high court involving his signature legislation. And White House aides have said they don’t have a contingency plan in place in case the court rules that the law as unconstitutional.

But on Wednesday Carney reiterated that Obama — along with the entire administration — is focused on implementing the “important provisions” of the bill, including the part of the law that allows young Americans under the age of 26 to remain on the parents’ plan.

“It is the law of the land,” the White House spokesman said. “It passed both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by the
president. The — a number of courts and a number of conservative judges on the appeals court, courts have ruled that the Affordable
Care Act is constitutional, which is obviously an opinion that we share. We remain confident that the Affordable Care Act is
constitutional. Now, when the Supreme Court makes its decision, we’ll be ready for that.”