Supreme Court Justices Take Up Severability

After tough questioning from conservative judges yesterday, the Obama administration will argue before the high court Tuesday that only two other key parts of its landmark health care reform law should be struck down if the justices also strike down the so-called "individual mandate," that requires everyone to have or buy health insurance or pay a penalty.

Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler will argue that rules banning insurers from turning away people with pre-existing conditions or charging them higher rates would be unworkable without the individual mandate.

Paul Clement, the lawyer for the 26 states challenging the law, will argue that the whole law should be thrown out if the individual mandate is found unconstitutional. A third lawyer, H. Bartow Farr, has been appointed by the court to argue a third position, that the rest of the law should survive unchanged.