GOP, Democrats seeking SCOTUS recusals on health law

News outlets are following up developments in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to take on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. 

The Hill: Supreme Court Appoints Lawyers To Argue Healthcare Positions Neither Party Supports
H. Bartow Farr, a partner at Farr & Taranto, has been chosen to argue that the entire law can stand if the individual mandate is struck down ... Also, Robert Long, a partner with Covington & Burling, was chosen to defend the position that the mandate cannot be challenged before it goes into effect in 2014 because it's a tax (Pecquet, 11/18).

Politico: Senate GOP Wants Answers On Kagan, ACA
Senate Republican leaders on Friday demanded that Attorney General Eric Holder respond to requests for information on whether Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has any conflict of interest in the health reform lawsuit the court will take up this spring. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said Kagan's role in the Obama administration during the passage of health care reform "may satisfy" both requirements for justices to recuse themselves (Haberkorn, 11/18). 

Roll Call: Republicans Question DOJ Over Kagan Role in Health Care
Kagan served as President Barack Obama's solicitor general prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court and conservatives have openly questioned her ability to consider the health care law as a sitting judge( Brady, 11/18).

The Hill: Dems Ramp Up Attacks On Justice Thomas Ahead Of Health Law Ruling
House Democrats wrote to the U.S. Judicial Conference on Friday urging the watchdog agency to request that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. ... The letter, [was] spearheaded by House Rules ranking member Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and signed by 51 House Democrats ... House Democrats have asked for Thomas to recuse himself in that case, because his wife has financial ties to groups that want the law stuck down (Pecquet, 11/18).

Kaiser Health News: Infographic: Legal Questions And Answers That Will Decide The Health Law's Fate
The challenge to the Affordable Care Act that the U.S. Supreme Court will consider this March involves a series of complex and inter-related legal questions. ... [KHN] provides this diagram to help see how the sweeping health law's implementation could proceed -- or not -- based on each of these questions (Taylor, 11/18).