Oklahoma AG Challenges Federal Health Care Claims

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is challenging federal government claims in a lawsuit he filed alleging the nation's health care overhaul law is unconstitutional.

Pruitt filed a response Friday in U.S. District Court in Muskogee, arguing that the government is urging the court to allow the Internal Revenue Service to implement a rule that's not authorized in the Affordable Care Act.

Pruitt says the government is using the IRS to enforce provisions Congress did not pass. He argues that an IRS rule punishes "large employers," including local government, with millions of dollars in tax penalties in states with federal health care exchanges. Pruitt also claims the rule violates the Administrative Procedures Act.

Pruitt filed the lawsuit in January 2011 and amended it in September.