HR-2

01/21/11

Prior to the vote on the bill, Democrats introduced a motion to recommit, a procedural maneuver, that would require a majority of those voting for repeal to forfeit their government provided health insurance within thirty days of passage in order to activate the bill. The argument was that members of Congress who supported repeal ought to feel the same effects as their constituents by entering into the private health care insurance market. This measure predictably failed, ensuring that our representatives continue to receive taxpayer funded health insurance and are not subject to the loss of benefits the rest of the country would experience under a full repeal.

The repeal must pass the Senate before it lands on President Obama's desk. Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Harry Reid, has vowed to prevent the measure from ever reaching the floor, where it would almost certainly be defeated. And even if the bill somehow cleared the Senate, President Obama would veto it before the ink had time to dry. House Republicans knew this in advance, but spent the day debating and voting on the measure to fill a campaign promise.

This isn't the end of the repeal movement, however. In addition to the upcoming Senate fight, which will be waged through procedural motions, the House will move ahead with plans to attack the health care law on multiple levels. The two main lines of attack will be narrow repeals, seeking to eliminate the most unpopular parts of the bill, and defunding elements of the law through appropriations bills. The first part of the bill that will come under direct attack is the individual mandate, which requires most people to purchase insurance by 2014 or face a fine. While Republicans attempt to strip this provision from the bill legislatively, challenges to the constitutionality of the mandate will continue to percolate throughout the court system.