House Republicans are moving forward with a government funding bill that would defund ObamaCare.
The legislation is a nod to House conservatives, some of whom quickly backed the plan.
But Senate Democrats and the White House have promised to reject any legislation that would defund the healthcare law, meaning the legislation won’t move farther than the House.
Unless the House and Senate can agree on legislation and get it to the White House by Oct. 1, the government will shut down at that time.
The House measure would keep the government funded through Dec. 15 at the current $986 billion spending rate, rather than the lower $967 billion level called for in the 2011 Budget Control Act.
Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise (R-La.) said he was on board with the plan despite the higher spending level.
“This reflects the principles we’ve been pushing for,” he said. “We want to address ObamaCare directly in the CR. We want to address ObamaCare in the debt ceiling and this keeps both of those moving.”
Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.), who authored a one-year CR that would increase defense spending while defunding ObamaCare, said he would vote for the new Boehner plan.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Graves said. “The American people should view this as a victory.”
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who lead a letter of 80 members seeking a defund ObamaCare CR, said he will also vote for it.
“We’ve been united in terms of what we wanted to do. This is uniting around a strategy,” he said.
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