Author Topic: Senate advances stopgap spending bill defunding ObamaCare  (Read 1412 times)

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Offline mystery-ak

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Senate advances stopgap spending bill defunding ObamaCare
« on: September 25, 2013, 07:14:17 pm »
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/324555-senate-votes-to-advance-stopgap-measure-defunding-obamacare


Senate advances stopgap spending bill defunding ObamaCare
By Alexander Bolton - 09/25/13 01:24 PM ET

The Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to advance House-passed legislation to defund ObamaCare and keep the government open beyond September.

Senators voted 100 to 0 to end debate on a motion to proceed to the House-passed stopgap, which includes language to prioritize debt payments if Congress fails to raise the debt limit this fall. The vote sets the stage for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to offer an amendment to strip the language defunding ObamaCare and prioritizing the debt out of the House measure.

Republicans said they support advancing the legislation because it would defund the controversial healthcare law.

“Invoking cloture on a bill that defunds ObamaCare, doesn’t raise taxes and respects the Budget Control Act, it strikes me as a no-brainer,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) told reporters.

Conservative Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) had urged GOP colleagues to block the bill to prevent Reid from scheduling amendments to eliminate the anti-ObamaCare provisions.

But Cruz voted in favor of the motion to proceed. He said Tuesday night during a 21-hour speech that the real vote on blocking the measure would come after Reid moves to strip language funding ObamaCare from the bill.

Cruz held the Senate floor for more than 21 hours to protest President Obama’s signature healthcare law and to raise public awareness of Reid’s plans to strip down the House bill.

Reid chastised Cruz for what he called “a big waste of time” and warned it increases the possibility of a stalemate over government funding.

“The government is set to shut down in a matter of hours,” he said.

“It’s a shame we’re standing here having wasted perhaps two days, most of yesterday and a good part of today, when we could pass what we need to pass very quickly and send it back to the House,” he added.

The Senate must vote again on the actual motion to proceed to the stopgap spending measure. After filing his amendments, Reid must schedule another vote to end debate on the bill and set up a final vote. This second cloture vote could happen Friday.


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Offline ABX

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Re: Senate advances stopgap spending bill defunding ObamaCare
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2013, 07:17:42 pm »
This is incorrectly reported. Today's vote was only to continue debate, not for cloture. This is a necessary procedural vote. Without it, debate ends and Harry Reid can call for unanimous consent at any time and deem it passed. The cloture vote won't be until Friday or Saturday.

Offline ABX

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Re: Senate advances stopgap spending bill defunding ObamaCare
« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2013, 07:18:57 pm »
...to add to my previous, this is a vote Cruz wanted and already called for twice. He also voted yes.