Republican-Led House of Representatives Passes Resolution to Defund Obamacare

National   Steven Ertelt   Sep 20, 2013   |   11:38AM    Washington, DC

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution today to de-fund the Obamacare health care law that funds abortions and the Planned Parenthood abortion business with taxpayer dollars while keeping the federal government open.

The measure passed on a 230-189 vote. Two Democrats, Matheson (Utah) and McIntyre (N.C.), voted with Republicans for the budget plan while one Republican, Rigell (Va.) voted against it and 14 did not vote.


The ball is now in the Senate’s court on how to act — though the Democrat-led Senate will not likely approve a measure to de-fund Obamacare.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) applauded the vote in a statement to LifeNews.

“The American people support defunding ObamaCare and oppose shutting down the government. The House voted today to follow the will of the American people and the Senate should now follow suit,” he said. “Americans are struggling in an uncertain economy and ObamaCare is making their lives harder. Instead of throwing more money at ObamaCare, or threatening to shut down the government, President Obama and his allies in Congress should work with Republicans to stop ObamaCare from ruining people’s lives, incomes, health plans and doctor relationships.”

The Hill has more on the next step:

The ObamaCare language is expected to be stripped from the bill in the Senate, setting up a critical week of negotiations next week. House Republicans have cancelled a planned recess to return to Washington Wednesday, and their leaders have warned the House could be in next weekend.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) bowed to conservatives in deciding to include the healthcare language in the continuing resolution. Republicans in the House had rejected an earlier proposal from their leaders that would have funded the government without defunding ObamaCare.

Republicans opposed to the effort had warned that if the government does shutdown, the healthcare strategy would make it easier for Democrats to blame Republicans if there is a shutdown. Some in both parties see a shudown as the one thing that could lead Democrats to win back a House majority next year.







