Trump administration steps up Obamacare attack, asks court to overturn law

FILE PHOTO: A sign on an insurance store advertises Obamacare in San Ysidro, San Diego, California, U.S., October 26, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up its attack on the Obamacare healthcare law, telling a federal appeals court it agrees with a ruling by a U.S. judge in Texas that the entire statute is unconstitutional and should be struck down.

The Justice Department, in a two-sentence letter to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals filed on Monday, said it backed U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor's December ruling in Fort Worth finding the Affordable Care Act violated the U.S. Constitution because it required people to buy health insurance.