Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Demonstrators for and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act march and chant in outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building on March 26, in Washington.
Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
Anti-abortion advocates with Justice House of Prayer gather outside the Supreme Court as the justices hear oral arguments on cases related to health care reform law in Washington. Passing a major reform of the US health insurance system was President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Demonstrators for and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act march and chant in outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building on March 26, in Washington, DC. Today the high court, which has set aside six hours over three days, will hear arguments over the constitutionality of the act.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Police officers keep a close watch on people demonstrating in support of and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building on March 26, in Washington, DC. The high court, which has set aside six hours over three days, will hear arguments over the constitutionality of th act.
Mark Wilson / Getty Images
Linda Door protests against President Obama's health care plan in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building on March 26, in Washington, DC. Today the high court, which has set aside six hours over three days, will hear arguments over the constitutionality President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Charles Dharapak / AP
Members of the public line up as the Supreme Court begins three days of arguments on the health care reform law signed by President Obama.
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
A line of people hoping to be allowed in to watch legal arguments over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the Supreme Court stretches around the corner in Washington March 26. Two years after President Barack Obama signed into law the healthcare overhaul, the Supreme Court on Monday takes up a historic test of whether it is valid under the country's Constitution.
By NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Brooke Brower
*** Day One at the Supreme Court: For the first time in several months, the top political story won’t be taking place on the Republican campaign trail, or at the White House, or on Capitol Hill. Instead, today’s top story occurs over at the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue that took up much of 2009 and 2010: health care. There will be three days of oral arguments, and today’s topic is over whether the Supreme Court can even hear the case at this particular time. “The justices will hear 90 minutes of argument about whether an obscure 19th-century law — the Anti-Injunction Act — means that the court cannot pass judgment on the law until its key provisions go into effect in 2014,” the Washington Post notes. “It is the rare issue on which both sides agree: the Obama administration lawyers and those representing the states and private organization challenging the new law argue that the Supreme Court should decide the constitutional question now.”
Click here to continue reading how the Supreme Court's decision could shape the legacy of President Obama.
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