The U.S. House of Representatives voted just past midnight Sunday to amend a bill that would postpone a federal government shutdown with a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act and a repeal of a taxation to pay for it.
Without a federal spending bill, large federal government operations, including national parks and monuments’ services, could shut down starting Oct. 1. The shutdown would also put some non-essential federal workers on unpaid furloughs.
The House passed a bill Sept. 20 that sought to defund the Affordable Care Act in return for providing federal government funding.
Sunday’s House vote comes after the U.S. Senate voted Friday to amend the bill to include funding for the Affordable Care Act.
“‘Obamacare’ is not ready,” U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., said in a statement Sunday. “Today the House stood with the majority of Americans and passed a resolution that funds the government and delays ‘Obamacare’ for one year.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in a statement, “I voted in favor of allowing a vote to defund ‘Obamacare.’ I oppose ‘Obamacare.’ I want to see it repealed and replaced. That can happen only if the Senate is actually allowed to proceed to final passage of a bill that does so."
But in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., criticized some members of Congress for leading the country on a “divisive, irresponsible path.”
“Last week, my former Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives continued to put their own personal, partisan politics ahead of progress for the American people,” Baldwin said.
House policies constitute “crisis to crisis governing,” according to Baldwin, and create uncertainty for the nation’s economy and financial insecurity for American businesses and families.
But House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement the House plan reflects the American people’s desire to keep the government running and stop the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He said it is up to the Senate to pass the bill and prevent the federal government shutdown.
Senate Democrats will meet Monday to make a decision. If the Senate does not pass the bill Monday, House leaders will have just hours to pass a spending bill free of measures that affect the Affordable Care Act to avoid federal government shutdown.
