oh, paul clement.forgiven for not knowing paul clement was also our nation's attorney general under george w. bush because his tenure as attorney general lasted precisely one day. this was in 2007. he publicly tagged these temporary replacement for alberto gonzalez took the helm at 12:01 on monday and relinquishing it 24 hours later. the solicitor general under george w. bush but attorney general for one day. since leaving the bush white house altogether he's arguing more cases before the u.s. supreme court than any other lawyer in the last decade. if there is a conservative case going to the court, no matter what it is, this is probably the guy arguing it. that's why it was a big deal when his law firm, king and spaulding decided to give up the clinton era defense of marriage act. in defense of it he quit king and spaulding and moved to bank kroft so he could work on the anti-gay marriage case. now on top of that, he has health reform, too. paul clement is a busy busy man. many cases before the suprem

oh, paul clement.ey general under george w. bush because his tenure as attorney general lasted precisely one day. this was in 2007. clement publicly tagged last month as the temporary replacement for alberto gonzalez, took the helm at 12:01 a.m. monday and relinquishing it 24 hours later. he was solicitor general for many years, but he ended up being attorney general for just one day. since leaving the bush white house all together. he's argued more cases befored u.s. supreme court than any other lawyer in the next decade. if there is a conservative case going to the supreme court, this is probably the guy that's going to be arguing. that's what it was such a big deal when his law firm gave up defending the clinton era defense of marriage act. he quit his law firm and moved to a new firm called bancroft so he coo keep working on the anti-gay marriage case. paul clement will also be the man defending sb-1070, arizona's papers please law. on top of that, he has health reform too. he's a busy man. many ca

representing the states, attorney paul clement says congress overstepped its power by making people buy >> it is the first time that congress has ever tried to force somebody to buy a product that they didn't want and that is not a proper regulation of commerce so it is unconstitutional. >> reporter: but the administration says the law's individual mandate provision is critical to its success. health reform measures like insurance for people with pre-existing conditions won't work unless all americans pay into the system. even though this court leans conservative, that is not necessarily mean it will rule against the administration. in the lower court, some conservative judges have voted to uphold the law. a decision is expected in june and, of course, scott, that is right in the middle of the presidential election. >> pelley: thanks, jan. for the first time today the treasury department fined an airline for violating the new law against holding passengers hostage on the tarmac. american glooel will have to pay $900,000 for stranding passengers for more than three hours. it happened on

and we're very blessed as states to have paul clement arguing for us.e, will argue the other side and it gets a little more complicated on two of the areas, the severability issue. the court has appointed the supreme court, they have appointed a lawyer to come in and argue that, a well respected d.c. lawyer. >> jamie: some will file briefs and other opinions for the court, friends of the court will come in and express their view. is -- there's so much discussion about this. and so much passion on both sides of the argument about this health care overhaul. how much of that is absorbed by the court? obviously, they're neutral but there are appointees on there from the administration. >> well, you know, jamie, we have to look at it like they are the highest court in the land. and you and i are lawyers. and we have to know, we have to believe that they will do what's right. they will follow the law. and they're going to -- this mandate is unconstitutional. and we have an opinion right now that's the best in the country that says it is. and we believe that t

and by the way, i'm smart enough to know that paul clement should be arguing the case for us. 's one of the best supreme court practitioners if not the best in the country. paul will be arguing the case for all of us in the united states supreme court and we'll be sitting right there with him. megyn: he's also a former solicitor general. let's talk about what could play into this. you did well in the lower courts. the florida case, the challenges, you won all the way. you want the same result at the u.s. supreme court. but other jurisdictions oh own don't this healthcare law have not done as well. including last week a very bad decision for your side by a conservative couple of justice hospital came out of george h.w. bush appointee who came out and said this thing is completely legit. governments are allowed to do this. and he's not only one who so concluded. how do the opinions that have come down in favor of the obama administration play into your case in which the opponents won? >> they don't. their cases aren't before the supreme court and ours are. but you are referring t

host: who is paul clement representing? there are 26 challenges by states.hich case is being brought before the supreme court? post -- guest: the principal one that they agreed to hear is the one that the government lost at the 11th circuit court in atlanta. the one that this group of 26, mainly republican controlled states, filed. since the government lost that case, they have the privilege of appearing. -- appealing. mr. clement represented those in the lower court. we expect that he would represent them again at the supreme court. host: who was the judge in the atlanta case bell? guest: it was a three judge panel. the panel voted, two-one, that the individual mandate exceeded the authority that congress had in the constitution. interestingly, the government did not lose everything. as a result, the national federation of independent businesses are filing an appeal for the aspects of the case that they did not win. the 11th circuit ruled that even if the mandate provision falls, the rest is a very ambitious and complicated statute that will stand. they wan

paul klemmants' table. here is an issue to think about. clement the lawyer to argue against the law before the supreme court. ened and she's saying things like this. >> the clear focus is do stop the obama çagenda. >> so there are serious signs of conflicts for scalia and thomas, how does fox news cover this story? >> there are new questions now about whether justice elena kagan has already made up her mind on this issue. now we're seeing justice department e-mails from kagan's time as mr. obama's solicitor general, on the very day the law passed, kagan tells lawrence tribe, serving the justice department, quote, i hear they have the votes, larry. simply amazing. >> if they were closely involved in the health care bill, she would legally be required it recuse herself from the case, but according to the constitution, a justice must recuse even if he or she expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy. >> let's get this straight. fog focused on justice elena kagan rather than on thomas and scalia? one issue off t