Don Ma is an anchor and senior business correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Don is the anchor and producer of NTD's "Business Matters," which airs weekdays at 4:30 pm ET.

Don Ma

NTD Plus

News

Breaking news and in-depth analysis from the United States and beyond. We bring you the latest updates, exclusive insights, and sharp discussions on the most pressing issues. NTD Newsroom airs Monday–Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

NTD Newsroom

China’s Biggest Threat to US Is ‘Communist Ideology,’ Not Military or Economy: Geopolitical Analyst

Trump Committed to Removing Evil in Iran Despite Pain at the Gas Pump: Analyst

How Taiwan Issue Was Handled on China Trip Is ‘Good News’ for Taiwan: Former Navy Captain

We Need to Strengthen Our Patent System to Prevent Chinese IP Theft: Inventor

‘The Chinese Communist Party Is an Existential Enemy of the United States’: China Analyst

Economist Expects US Dollar ‘to Strengthen’ After US–China Talks

Arleen Richards is NTD's legal correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers all major legal stories. Arleen holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.).


Arleen Richards

Global Celebrations for World Falun Dafa Day Represent ‘Being True, Good and Enduring’: Jan Jekielek

Man Who Visited Every Country Shares Tips on How to Travel With Purpose

China Is ‘Helping Iranian Regime Kill Americans’: Former CIA Operations Officer

Economic Pressure In Hormuz Strait A 'Checkmate Move' From US: Foreign Relations Analyst

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 15)

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 14)

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 13)

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 12)

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 11)

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 8)

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 7)

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 6)

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 5)

NTD Newsroom Full Broadcast (May 4)

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

US News

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

World News

Middle East

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

Supreme Court justices considered on April 21 the constitutionality of a federal panel that issues mandates requiring insurers to cover preventive medical services without cost to patients.

In Kennedy v. Braidwood Management Inc., the justices examined a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that allows the Preventive Services Task Force to make binding recommendations about preventive medical services, such as medications and screenings.

The act, also known as the Obamacare statute, was enacted in 2010.

The task force, part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), <a href="https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/">described</a> itself as “an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in disease prevention and evidence-based medicine” that works “to improve the health of people nationwide by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services.”

Members of the task force are appointed by the HHS secretary.

Texas-based Braidwood Management sued over mandates that the task force approved, to which the company expressed religious objections.

The mandates cover a wide variety of treatments, including HIV prevention medicine and sexually transmitted disease screenings.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in June 2024 that the task force’s mandates were invalid because the structure of the task force violates the Constitution’s appointments clause, according to the government’s September 2024 <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-316/326373/20240919152821295_Becerra%20v%20Braidwood%20-%20Cert_Pet.pdf">petition</a>.

That clause provides that the president may appoint officers to assist him in carrying out his responsibilities.

Principal officers must be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, but inferior officers may be appointed by the president alone, the head of an executive department, or a court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit determined that the mandates could not be upheld because the task force members were not appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

The federal district court was correct to block HHS from enforcing the mandates, the circuit court stated, according to the petition.

Braidwood, which is being represented by a legal team that includes the America First Legal Foundation, also <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-316/328875/20241021182145734_Braidwood%20Brief%20in%20Support%20of%20Certiorari%20PDFA.pdf">urged</a> the Supreme Court to take up the case.

The brief states that the statute “is of immense importance,” and that the high court “should weigh in rather than leaving the constitutionality of [the law] and the appointments of the Task Force members to be resolved entirely by the court of appeals.”

Braidwood’s attorney, Jonathan Mitchell, told the justices during oral argument on April 21 that the Fifth Circuit was correct to hold that task force members are “principal officers.”

“They cannot be inferior officers because their ... preventive care coverage mandates are neither directed nor supervised by the secretary of health and human services or by anyone else who has been appointed as a principal officer,” he said.

Mitchell said that the Supreme Court “must, to the maximum possible extent, respect the will of Congress as reflected in its enacted laws.”

“The government’s proposed remedy would rewrite the statute into something unrecognizable by the Congress that enacted the [statute],” he said.

“It is not even clear that Congress would have approved a regime in which politicians, rather than an independent task force, decide the preventive care that insurers must cover.”

​​Chief Justice John Roberts told Principal Deputy Solicitor General Hashim Mooppan that the task force’s work is “fairly technical, medically and scientifically.”

Roberts asked whether the HHS secretary was supposed to be examining details of recommendations.

Mooppan said the secretary “clearly has the authority to do so,” but whether he chooses to defer to the expertise of the members “isn’t relevant to the constitutional question.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh said Braidwood’s argument treats the task force as a “massively important agency that operates with unreviewable authority to make really critical decisions that are going to affect the economy.”

Normally, Congress would have made the importance of the task force clear, “and I just don’t see indications of that,” Kavanaugh said.

Mitchell replied that the statute says that the task force “shall be independent and shielded from political pressure.”

“It’s hard for me to see stronger language than that,” the lawyer said.

Justice Elena Kagan told Mitchell that the HHS secretary seems to have control over the task force, which suggests its members are not principal officers.

“If you read this court’s decisions, it seems often to be the end-all and the be-all that the court has suggested on many occasions that removal power is really the essence of control: If you have it, you have control. If you don’t have it, you don’t have control.”

Mooppan said the task force members are inferior officers, not principal officers.

The members are “subject to ample supervision by the secretary in issuing recommendations that bind the public,” and the secretary can fire them at will, Mooppan said.

The secretary can review members’ recommendations, prevent them from taking effect, and order the members to rescind them, he said.

The Supreme Court should find that the language in the legislative provision is “unenforceable and severable,” meaning that it can be struck down without invalidating the entire statute, according to Mooppan.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the task force members, who provide technical advice, are like the law clerks who give the justices help “on some of the things we don’t know anything about.”

They are experts who “help the decision-makers come to a conclusion,” she said.

Mooppan said the Supreme Court relied on that kind of reasoning in a prior ruling.

“You can have bureaucrats but not be ruled by them,” he said.

“You have bureaucrats who contribute their expertise, but, ultimately, the final decision power is in a politically accountable head of an agency.”

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case by the end of June.

<em>Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified the person with whom Chief Justice John Roberts discussed the task force's work and the HHS secretary's authority over it. The Epoch Times regrets the error.</em>

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/supreme-court-hears-challenge-to-task-force-that-issues-preventive-care-mandates-5845023">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Latest

Videos

04_Top Stories

Latest Clips

Management

Supreme Court

Matthew Vadum is an award-winning investigative journalist.

Matthew Vadum

02_Second Lead

Courts

Fiona Ji is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers local news.

Fiona Ji

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.

Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Task Force That Issues Preventive Care Mandates