Whereas on February 26, 2018, 18 State attorneys general and 2 Governors filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Texas v. United States, No. 4:18–cv–00167–O (N.D. Tex.) (in this preamble referred to as Texas v. United States ), arguing that the requirement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( Public Law 111–148 ; 124 Stat. 119) (in this preamble referred to as the ACA ) to maintain minimum essential coverage is unconstitutional and, as a result, the court should invalidate the entire law; Whereas in a June 7, 2018, letter to Congress, then Attorney General Jefferson Sessions announced that the Department of Justice— (1) would not defend the constitutionality of the minimum essential coverage provision; and (2) would argue that provisions protecting individuals with pre-existing conditions (specifically the provisions commonly known as community rating and guaranteed issue ) are inseverable from the minimum essential coverage provision and should be invalidated; Whereas in the June 7, 2018, letter to Congress, Attorney General Sessions also advised Congress that the Department will continue to argue that Section 5000A(a) is severable from the remaining provisions of the ACA , indicating a difference from the plaintiffs’ position in Texas v. United States; Whereas on December 14, 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order that declared the requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage unconstitutional and struck down the ACA in its entirety, including protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions; Whereas the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas was stayed and is pending appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit