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McCarthy: 'We are not shutting the government down'
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mystery-ak:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/?hp=44
By SEUNG MIN KIM |
9/29/13 9:26 AM EDT
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy said Sunday that several options are on the table for House GOP leaders if the Senate tosses the government funding bill back to the chamber without two anti-Obamacare changes approved by the House.
McCarthy, the third-ranking House Republican, said his chamber will send the continuing resolution back to the Senate with “another provision” attached, and said there are “few other options” for those provisions.
“We will pass a bill -- if the Senate [rejects the current House bill] -- that will keep the government open, that will reflect the House that I believe the Senate can accept,” McCarthy said on “Fox News Sunday.” It “will have fundamental changes into Obamacare that can protect the economy for America.”
The House passed two amendments to a must-pass government funding bill that rolls back elements of the president’s health care law. One repeals an unpopular medical device tax – a levy that has seen bipartisan opposition. Another implements a one-year delay of Obamacare.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement Saturday that he will not accept either of those changes. Senate Democratic leadership has long said they will reject any tweaks to Obamacare as part of the continuing resolution.
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” McCarthy did not elaborate on the options, although he said “there are a lot of items on the table.” But one possibility floated on Capitol Hill Saturday is an amendment that would ban federal health care subsidies for lawmakers and their aides.
Despite the wide rift between the chambers just hours before the end of the fiscal year at midnight Monday, McCarthy insisted that the federal government will stay open.
“We are not shutting the government down,” he vowed.
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