#TexasFoldEm: Injunction Junction, What's Your Function?

via Nicholas Bagley of The Incidental Economist:

Maryland files suit to protect health reform from Texas.

... the Maryland attorney general today filed a separate lawsuit in a Maryland district court. Among other things, he’s seeking an injunction requiring the continued enforcement of the law. Depending on how quickly the Maryland case moves, it’s possible we could see dueling injunctions—one ordering the Trump administration to stop enforcing the law, the other ordering it to keep enforcing.

That’s an unholy mess just waiting to happen. Now, it may not come to that. My best guess is that the Texas lawsuit will fizzle: any injunction will likely be stayed pending appeal, either by the Fifth Circuit or the Supreme Court, and the case is going nowhere on the merits. The Maryland lawsuit will likely prove unnecessary.

I don't have much to add to this other than to note how much this case underscores just how much power and importance state attorneys general have.

If you appreciate the work being done by the Democratic state attorneys general on this case, consider giving them a shoutout:

• California (Xavier Becerra, lead)
• Connecticut (George Jepsen)
• Delaware (Matthew Denn)
• District of Columbia (Karl Racine)
• Hawai'i (Russell Suzuki)
• Illinois (Lisa Madigan)
• Kentucky (Andy Beshear)
• Massachusetts (Maura Healey)
• Minnesota (Scott Ikeda, Assistant AG via Commerce Dept)
• New Jersey (Gurbir Grewal)
• New York (Barbara Underwood)
• North Carolina (Josh Stein)
• Oregon (Ellen Rosenblum)
• Rhode Island (Peter Kilmartin)
• Vermont (T. J. Donovan)
• Virginia (Mark Herring)
• Washington (Bob Ferguson)

Interestingly, Maryland's attorney general, Brian Frosh, was not among those who officially signed on to defend the ACA last week, but he's certainly stepping up today.