2 p.m. Friday With Congressman Huelskamp’s support today, the House passed H.R. Res. 59, which will fund the federal government at current levels through December 15th, will protect the full, faith and credit of the United States against default on its debt, and will fully defund Obamacare.
Congressman Tim Huelskamp issued the following statement:
“I applaud Republican leadership in the House for doing the right thing and bringing this bill to the floor for a vote. President Obama’s health care law is the biggest expansion of government in my lifetime. It was written behind closed doors, and then rammed through Congress over the vocal objection of a majority of the American people. Since its passage, the President’s team has missed half of the Obamacare deadlines. They have provided waivers to political allies. They delayed the employer mandate for big business. They opened the door for fraud by announcing they would not enforce income verification for subsidies. Then, they exempted much of Congress. If it is not good enough for President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary Sebelius nor their families, then it’s time to exempt all Americans.”
Congressman Huelskamp continued:
“To suggest, as some have, that Republicans simply lay down without a fight on a must-pass funding measure on the eve of Obamacare’s implementation is ludicrous. Republicans were elected to fight against Obamacare, not to give excuses why they won’t. It’s now up to Harry Reid and Senate Democrats to explain to the American people why they would shut down the government over this unpopular, unworkable, and unaffordable law.”
10 a.m. Friday (AP) — The House has passed a temporary funding measure to keep the government running. The bill is coupled with a tea party-backed measure to block President Obama’s new health care law.
The 230 -189 vote sets the stage for a confrontation with the Democratic-led Senate. The Senate promises to strip the “defund Obamacare” provision from the bill next week and will challenge the House to pass it as a straightforward funding bill that Obama will sign.
The White House promises Obama would veto the measure in the unlikely event it reaches him.
At issue is the need to pass a short-term funding bill to prevent a partial government shutdown when the budget year ends on Sept. 30. Washington’s longstanding budget stalemate has derailed the annual appropriations bills required to fund federal agency operations.