By the informal “Rule of 4,” any 4 justices on the Supreme Court can vote to accept a case. If the moderates on the Court think they have 5 votes to uphold the ACA, then cert will be granted soon and we could have oral arguments around the time of the Iowa Caucuses and opinions by the end of June.
(For background on the Rule of 4, and concerns about whether it has (or should) become a Rule of 5, see Lyle Denniston’s essay from a talk he gave at Yale Law School in 2009).
