The signature legislation of Barack Obama’s presidency was upheld Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices ruled that ObamaCare is constitutional. The primary issue was the individual mandate, which required all U.S. citizens to purchase health insurance.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the court. They decided, on a 5-4 decision, the individual mandate does not stand under the Commerce Clause, but is permissible as a tax. Roberts sided with the four left-leaning justices on the court.

This is a huge victory for President Obama and the entire Democratic Party. At a time when millions of Americans were dealing with unemployment and a stagnant economy, the Dems focused on forcing through a health care law. Now, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by George W. Bush, rules in favor of that effort. The fact that Roberts sided with the left side of the court is a devastating and surprising turn for conservatives.

However, Roberts wrote Congress is not free to penalize states that decide not to opt into the Medicaid expansion found in ObamaCare. Roberts argued that the HHS cannot take away the Medicaid funding from states that do not expand the Medicaid provisions found in the ObamaCare bill. This remains to be seen as more is learned about this lengthy decision.

The future of ObamaCare remains unclear after this ruling. When defending the law, President Obama repeatedly said ObamaCare was not a tax. However, the President’s legal team argued that it was a tax. Under those terms, the Supreme Court sided with President Obama.

TheIowaRepublican.com will follow reaction from Iowa officials throughout the day to get their reaction to this historic decision and provide more details as they become available.