About 10 attorneys general from across the country are ready to challenge the constitutionality of part of Congress’ national health care reform package but Richard Blumenthal, who is running for U.S. Senate, is not one of them.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican, told Reuters on Monday that the health care reform legislation the U.S. House of Representatives passed “clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state's sovereignty ."
"On behalf of the State of Florida and of the Attorneys General from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota and Alabama if the President signs this bill into law, we will file a lawsuit to protect the rights and the interests of American citizens," McCollum said in a prepared statement.
Blumenthal, a Democrat, says he's not joining the attorneys general in their immediate legal challenge to the bill.
"It would be clearly improper to go to court to challenge a proposal before it's final," Blumenthal told Greenwich Time. "A measure cannot be challenged until it has legal force."
Before Monday was out, two Republican candidates for U.S. Senate blasted Blumenthal for not joining the fight.
Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon and former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons said Blumenthal has a chance to protect the people of Connecticut and are urging him to join the other attorneys general who plan to fight for repeal of the new law.
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The Time reports Blumenthal wouldn't speak to the constitutionality of the insurance mandate and said neither the governor's office nor the General Assembly have asked him for a legal opinion yet.
However, he did not rule out a legal challenge, the Time reports.
