File- This May 11, 2017, file photo shows an Obamacare sign being displayed on the storefront of an insurance agency in Hialeah, Fla. A conservative federal judge in Texas on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018, ruled... (Associated Press) 
 
 File- This May 11, 2017, file photo shows an Obamacare sign being displayed on the storefront of an insurance agency in Hialeah, Fla. A conservative federal judge in Texas on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018, ruled the Affordable Care Act “invalid” on the eve of the sign-up deadline for next year. "The notion that the unconstitutionality of an unenforceable mandate somehow requires toppling the entire ACA is bonkers." HealthCare.gov , the government's site for signing up, was taking applications Saturday, the deadline in most states for enrolling for coverage next year, and those benefits will take effect as scheduled Jan. 1. President Trump: Ruling against Obamacare offers another chance for repeal and replace 
 
 'Republicans will never stop': Obama slams GOP after ruling against Affordable Care Act 
 
 The legal battle 
 
 The Justice Department under President Donald Trump announced in June that it would not defend ACA's individual mandate and other provisions, such as protections for people with pre-existing conditions, but asked that the law not be struck down in its entirety. The third-ranking GOP leader, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, praised the judge's ruling and made no mention of working with Democrats, whom he accused of "running a fear-mongering campaign" to win control of the House last month. A coalition of Democratic state officials led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra will appeal O'Connor's decision, most likely to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans. Severability 
 
 Gluck, who called the ruling "shocking" in a New York Times op-ed co-authored with Case Western Reserve University School of Law professor Johnathan Adler, expects the case will be overturned and never even make it the Supreme Court. "One is the insurance companies just don't like to live under that kind of uncertainty and so they're going to price that uncertainty into their products," she said. "On the assumption that the Supreme Court upholds, we will get great, great health care for our people," President Donald Trump told reporters during a visit Saturday to Arlington National Cemetery. "We’ll have to sit down with the Democrats to do it, but I’m sure they want to do it also." A call for "Medicaid for all" and to expand a public insurance option is popular among Democrats. But Republicans, still stinging from their loss of the House in the midterm elections, are facing a fresh political quandary after U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor said the entire 2010 health law was invalid. Warnings about the Texas lawsuit were part of the political narrative behind Democrats' electoral gains. Republicans have expressed more willingness to keep provisions of the Affordable Care Act in place since their failed efforts to "repeal and replace" the law and some have suggested a more step-by-step approach.
– A Texas judge delivered a bombshell ruling on ObamaCare Friday night, declaring that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. US District Court Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that the individual mandate—the penalty those who forgo insurance must pay—is unconstitutional. And because the individual mandate is so integral to the ACA, the entire ACA is unconstitutional as well, he declared. All of which has lawmakers in both parties, as well as millions of Americans who get their coverage from the ACA, wondering, "Now what?" Here's what we know, including a debate over the legal principle of "severability": What's next: In terms of the immediate future, nothing changes, reports USA Today. Though much uncertainty is now in the mix, the ACA remains in place while this plays out in the courts—perhaps even at the Supreme Court, for the third time—and the process could take months, if not years. Those insured under the ACA, including those who just enrolled, remain covered. The stakes: Here's how the Washington Post puts it: "The opinion, if upheld on appeal, would upend the health insurance industry, the way doctors and hospitals function, and the ability of millions of Americans to access treatments they need to combat serious diseases." Core provisions: As the AP notes, key provisions of the ACA have become popular with Americans, including its protections for pre-existing conditions, expanded Medicaid for lower-income Americans, and the ability of parents to keep their kids covered through age 26. All of which makes the politics tricky for the GOP; the AP says the decision "has landed like a stink bomb among Republicans."