“What I saw … was five justices who took off their chains,” said Ian Millhiser, a policy analyst for the liberalCenter for American Progress. “That’s scary whether you like the opinion they wind up writing or you don’t, because it means that the next time around they’ll be free to take the chains off again.”…

The tenor and intensity of their questions left the administration and supporters of the law reeling and wondering whether the court will do an about-face on Commerce Clause jurisprudence.

Mr. Millhiser called the potential scenario “shocking and terrifying.”

“If the justices start acting like every single case is a blank slate they can do whatever they want with, then my law degree isn’t worth very much,” he said. “But beyond that it has terrifying implications for the country.”