WH Still Mum on Its Response to Adverse King v. Burwell Ruling

For the fourth time in as many weeks, the White House on Tuesday refused to say what it will do if the Supreme Court strikes down Obamacare subsidies in the pending King v. Burwell ruling.

Press secretary Josh Earnest was asked if the White House was talking to members of Congress who say they have alternative plans and if it has any contingency plans in the event of a hostile ruling.

He told reporters: "I don’t have a lot to tell you. The fact is, we continue to have a lot of confidence in the power of the legal arguments made by the solicitor general before the court. And you've heard the president discuss this at some length."

Earnest added that "in the unlikely event that there is an adverse ruling, the president has also been pretty clear that if Congress is actually serious about solving this problem they could solve the problem in one day with a one-page bill."

As for Republican members of Congress who have discussed alternative plans, the president's top spokesman said it was "pretty clear" to the White House "that their interest is not in trying to protect the critically important gains that have been enjoyed by millions of Americans across the country, but rather to dismantle them.

"That is the publicly stated goal of any number of members of Congress."

Newsmax quoted to Earnest recent remarks from Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, who told us last week that he felt sure the president would veto any contingency plan on healthcare enacted by Congress "because that would be an admission the Affordable Care Act was flawed."

We also pointed out that this sentiment was echoed by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, author of the alternative plan known as the Patient Freedom Act.

What does the administration say to senators when they make statements like that, we asked.

Earnest told us: "I think what we would say to them is hopefully their musings on this topic will be rendered irrelevant in the next week or so."

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.

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