S Supreme Court justices on Tuesday signaled they're unlikely to strike down the Affordable Care Act in a legal challenge brought by Texas and other Republican led states and backed by President Donald Trump's administration.

In about two hours of arguments by teleconference, Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Brett Kavanaugh both seemed skeptical of Republican arguments that all of the A c a must fall even if one provision known as the individual mandate, is found to be unconstitutional.

Chief Justice Roberts noted that Congress did not repeal the entire law in 2017 when it eliminated the financial penalty under the individual mandate.

I think it's hard for you to argue that Congress, um, intended the entire act to fall.

It's a mandate were struck down, Uh, when the same Congress that lowered the penalty to zero did not even try to repeal the rest of the act.

I think frankly that they wanted the court to do that, but that's not our job.

Both Roberts and Kavanagh appeared to agree that the mandate to buy insurance could be severed from the rest of the law.

Looking at our severability presidents, it does seem fairly clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate provisions and leave the rest of the act in place the provisions regarding preexisting conditions and the rest.

House of Representatives attorney Don Verrilli laid out the ramifications of striking down the entire Affordable Care Act.

There is just no way that Congress would have preferred an outcome that throws 23 million people off their insurance, ends protections for people with preexisting conditions and creates chaos in the healthcare sector.

The case represents the latest Republican legal setback on the 2010 law, which was the signature domestic policy achievement of former President Barack Obama.

Republicans also have failed in numerous efforts to repeal Obama care in Congress, though Trump's administration has taken steps to hobble it.

If Robertson Cavanaugh in the courts eventual ruling due by the end of June joined with the courts three liberal justices, it would likely be enough to keep the vast majority of the law intact.