Update: Orin Kerr has this post about oral arguments this morning. Judge Motz told the attorneys challenging the ACA that they could argue for as long as they wanted but with the caveat that the government would be able to argue for the same amount of time.

I just read over the ACA Litigation Blog that the Fourth Circuit has announced the panel hearing argument today over whether the Affordable Care Act is constitutional. According to the ACA Blog, the panel will consist of all Democrat appointees. Here is the panel:

  1. Judge Diana Gribbon Motz (appointed by President Clinton)
  2. Judge Andre M. Davis (appointed by President Obama)
  3. Judge James A. Wynn (appointed by President Obama)

I think its safe to say, based on nothing more than the composition of the panel, that the Government will win this appeal. If that occurs, the best chance for a circuit split would come from a conservative panel of  the Eleventh Circuit. (Although I think the Supreme Court will hear this case even in the absence of a true split.)

For more Affordable Care Act coverage, visit SCOTUS Blog, Orin Kerr’s post at The Volokh Conspiracy,  the ACA Litigation Blog, or my previous posts on the subject here and here.