WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans plan to condition a short-term spending bill for averting a government shutdown next month on making Senate Democrats vote on — but not necessarily pass — a tea party-backed plan to dismantle President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.
The move would be a partial victory for conservatives demanding a House vote to “defund ‘Obamacare”’ as part of any must-pass stopgap funding bill. But GOP leaders are employing an unusual procedural trick to make sure that the tea party measure doesn’t get in the way of smooth passage of a straightforward stopgap funding bill before the Oct. 1 start of the new budget year.
The unusual strategy would start with a House vote this week on a stopgap funding bill that includes the provision demanded by conservatives to block the controversial health care law. The two issues, however, would automatically be decoupled when they’re sent to the Senate. The maneuver would force Democrats controlling the Senate to vote first on defunding Obamacare before the House sends over a “clean” stopgap funding bill as a separate measure.
GOP leaders are set to unveil the idea to the rank and file at a closed-door meeting this morning and have slated a vote for later this week if enough Republicans buy into it.
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