⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit hears oral argument in Faulk Company versus Kennedy. The core legal issue is which federal agency, the Internal Revenue Service or the Department of Health and Human Services, has the statutory authority to certify that an employee received a premium tax credit under the Affordable Care Act, a certification that triggers an employer shared responsibility payment, often called an excise tax. The case turns on how two statutory schemes fit together: Title 26 of the Internal Revenue Code, which houses tax provisions, and Title 42, which contains the Affordable Care Act's exchange administration rules. Faulk Company, an employer, challenges both the tax assessment and an HHS regulation. The company says the regulation improperly delegates the certification function to the IRS. It also says the regulation eliminates a notice and appeal process that Congress required. The jurisdictional stakes are also high, because the company brings both a traditional tax refund claim and an Administrative Procedure Act challenge to the HHS regulation, raising the question whether the tax exception to the Declaratory Judgment Act bars the latter claim.

Faulk Company v. Kennedy (No. 25-10773) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued August 5, 2026.