On Wednesday President Trump stated that his administration will urge the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act, continuing its all-out legal assault on the law even during a pandemic that will force millions of Americans to depend on the coverage it provides.

The Whitehouse is doubling down on its legal strategy, even though Attorney General William Barr warned top Trump officials this week about the political consequences of undermining the health care safety net during the Covid-19 crises.

Two years ago, Democrats took back the House of Representatives and statehouses across the country on the promise of defending Obamacare, especially it’s insurance protections that prevent sick people from being denied coverage or increased charges because of a health condition. The issue may turn out to be even more crucial in November during a pandemic that health experts believe will persist through the fall.

The Justice Department set a Wednesday deadline to change its position in a suit brought by Republican-led states, but the President told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that his administration would stand firm. DOJ refused to comment.

“Obamacare is a disaster, but we’ve made it barely acceptable,” Trump said.

Later this fall the Supreme Court will hear a lawsuit from the GOP-led states that argue Obamacare was rendered invalid after Congress eliminated its tax penalty for not having health insurance. A collective of Democratic state attorneys general and the Democratic-led House of Representatives will be defending the law in court.

The Supreme Court is set to hear the case during the next term, in October, but arguments haven’t been scheduled yet. It is unlikely that a decision will be reached before November 3rd, the day of the election. The court has upheld Obamacare in two major challenges that threatened the law’s survival previously.

House Democrats in a filing to the Supreme Court on Wednesday said the pandemic showcases the necessity to preserve the law.

“Although Congress may not have enacted the ACA with the specific purpose of combating a pandemic, the nation’s current public-health emergency has made it impossible to deny that broad access to affordable health care is not just a life-or-death matter for millions of Americans, but an indispensable precondition to the social intercourse on which our security, welfare, and liberty ultimately depend,” their brief read.