Multiple states have filed an emergency motion to force the Trump administration to continue making ObamaCare subsidy payments to insurers.

Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., signed onto the motion for a temporary restraining order filed Tuesday in federal court in California, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D).

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The emergency motion would ensure the payments continue.

“These payments are vital to thousands of New Yorkers and millions of Americans who rely on them to afford their health care,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “We’re moving to block these dangerous cuts before they do any more harm.”

The payments were required under the Affordable Care Act, but Congress refused to appropriate the money for them. The Obama administration began paying anyway. The House sued the Obama administration, arguing the White House was illegally funding the subsidies.

The House won the lawsuit, the Obama administration appealed, and the payments continued on a monthly basis until last week.

“Donald Trump doesn’t get to pick and choose which laws to follow,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra Xavier BecerraOVERNIGHT ENERGY: Trump casts doubt on climate change science during briefing on wildfires | Biden attacks Trump's climate record amid Western wildfires, lays out his plan | 20 states sue EPA over methane emissions standards rollback 20 states sue EPA over methane emissions standards rollback Investigation underway after bags of mail found dumped in Los Angeles-area parking lot MORE (D) said in a statement. “For nearly a year, Trump has submitted those payments. So the question now has to be: is Donald Trump correct today or was he breaking the law?”

The same coalition of state attorneys general last week announced a lawsuit that would seek a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction requiring the cost-sharing reduction payments be made.



