[EandH Dad]

As I understand it; the bill was passed as a budget reconciliation because the mandate made it revenue neutral. Without the mandate, it has to pass the full House and Senate. Am I accurate on this? If so, what is the procedure on this? If, and when, the SCOTUS rules on this I believe Kagan has to recuse herself since she wrote the defense argument. This means at best/worst (depends on point of view) we could get a 4-4 tie and the 11th ruling stands. If he-who-will-not-be-named runs on the repeal then he has essentially resigned because you just can't look back on this and say “Oops, my bad.”.

[TexasNative2000]

As I understand it; the bill was passed as a budget reconciliation because the mandate made it revenue neutral. Without the mandate, it has to pass the full House and Senate. Am I accurate on this?

Correct.

[Clump]

As a lawyer I should know this but don’t.
I know that if a case is heard and the SCOTUS splits 4-4 then the tie goes to the lower court.
But what if the court takes up consolidated appeals from circuits that have come to different conclusions?
Can the Chief Justice decide to just set the one he agrees with for a hearing instead of consolidating?
I just don’t know.