The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor throws out the 2010 Affordable Care Act in its entirety, throwing the American health care system into chaos in the midst of open enrollment.

This is a five alarm fire − Republicans just blew up our health care system. The anti-health care zealots in the Republican Party are intentionally ripping health care away from the working poor, increasing costs on seniors, and making insurance harder to afford for people with pre-existing conditions.

Don’t be fooled, this rests 100 percent on the shoulders of President Trump and Republicans in Congress who empower him. Trump took the extraordinary step of sending his lawyers to argue to end health coverage for 20 million people and he got his wish. Not a single Senate Republican challenged him, and now they own this disaster as much as he does.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy

Washington D.C.

Editor's note: Sen. Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, released these comments after the ruling in Texas v. United States, which struck down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional. The decision is being appealed.