House fails to override president's veto of Obamacare repeal
Erin
Kelly, USA TODAY
8:39 a.m. EST February 3, 2016
The U.S. House failed to override a veto by the White House of a bill that would have gutted Obamacare and defunded Planned Parenthood. USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday failed to override The 241-186 vote to override the veto fell short of the
two-thirds needed, ensuring that the The vote came just hours after the president met with House
Speaker Republican House leaders knew that they would lose the Obamacare vote, but they are hoping to use the issue to convince voters to elect a GOP president to help them overturn the 2010 heath care law in the next Congress. "The president is the only person standing in the way of what the American people want, so our job now is to stand up for them, to demonstrate for them who is on their side," said Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga. However, even if the next president is a Republican, it could be tough to push a repeal of Obamacare through the Senate, where Democrats are expected to pick up seats in the November election and could even win the majority. Rep. "It probably breaks all records in wasting taxpayer time and money," Van Hollen said before the vote. "This is a futile gesture, part of an obsession to try to undo affordable care for 22 million Americans, and it's not going to happen." The House voted 240-181 on Jan. 6 to gut Obamacare and cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood for a year. The Senate approved the legislation in December by using a special budget procedure that required only a simple majority rather than the 60 votes typically needed to approve major legislation. Obama vetoed the bill on Jan. 8. USA TODAY House sends president a bill to repeal Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood Democrats say Obamacare has helped nearly 18 million Americans gain medical coverage, allowed young people to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26, and stopped insurance companies from refusing to cover patients with pre-existing conditions. Republicans say the law has raised health care premiums and deductibles, limited patients' ability to choose their doctors, and hurt the economy. The bill would have scrapped key sections of the health care law, including the mandate for individuals to buy health insurance and for employers with more than 50 workers to provide insurance to employees. It also would have cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, which receives about $500 million a year from the federal government to provide cancer screenings, medical checkups and birth control services. Planned Parenthood has been under attack by conservatives since anti-abortion activists released undercover videos last year allegedly showing group officials talking about illegally selling tissue from aborted fetuses for profit. Planned Parenthood has denied violating any laws, and the group announced last fall that it would stop taking reimbursement for supplying tissue to medical labs for research. Last week, a Texas grand jury investigating the videos indicted two of the people who made them. The grand jury in Harris County indicted "Our (Republican) colleagues have a lot of gall to bring this to the floor after the Texas court decision," Van Hollen said Tuesday. Rep. "This government-financed war on the innocent unborn has got to stop," Brady said. (c) Copyright 2015 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. To subscribe or visit go to: www.usatoday.comhttp://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/02/02/house-fails-override-presidents-veto-obamacare-repeal/79697108/ |