But conversations with Republican lawmakers and aides in both the House and Senate indicate there is one red line that the GOP won’t be willing to cross. Simply put: A GOP Congress will never permanently extend the subsidies that were just declared illegal so that new enrollees could claim Obamacare benefits.

“This should be a short-term fix,” Rep. Bill Flores, R-Tex., who serves as chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said of a response to a potential Supreme Court decision. “There shouldn’t be anything that allows this short-term fix to ultimately become a permanent extension of the subsidies.”

Though there are currently differences among Republicans on the details of any response, when it comes to this red line, Flores said, the view among Republicans “is about as close to unanimous as you can get.”

This means that the question of whether financial assistance survives any Supreme Court decision will hinge on whether Obama and his fellow Democrats are willing to accept some sort of temporary solution.