HOUSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court judge seems to have taken offense at comments President Barack Obama made this week in which he warned that if the Supreme Court overturned his signature health care overhaul it would amount to overreach by an “unelected” court.
The Supreme Court is set to rule later this year on the overhaul’s fate.
During oral arguments Tuesday in Houston in a separate challenge to the health care law, U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith said Obama’s comments troubled people who have read them as a challenge to federal courts’ authority.
While judicial review of laws has long been established, Smith ordered a federal attorney to submit a letter by Thursday stating the government’s position on this issue in light of the Obama’s comments.