43 GOP Lawmakers Float Alternative CR That Defunds Obamacare
Forty-three House Republicans have introduced their own continuing resolution that they think would achieve the goal of both cutting spending and defunding Obamacare better than the plan GOP leaders put forth Tuesday.
Rather than fund the government for a month and a half at the post-sequester top line of $988 billion, it would run through all of fiscal 2014 at the lower, $967 billion levels many Republicans favor.
And, instead of relying on a legislative maneuver to force the Senate to vote on defunding Obamacare without risking a shutdown at the end of the month, it contains language that would actually zero out funding for the president’s signature health care law.
It could spell trouble for the Ohio Republican and other members of the leadership team as they try to come up with a strategy that won’t alienate their base but has an actual chance of passing the Senate.
“Our plan will achieve fairness for every American by fully delaying and defunding Obamacare until 2015,” Rep. Tom Graves of Georgia said in a statement. “This approach builds upon the Obama Administration’s policy of delaying portions of Obamacare and relieves taxpayers of the burden of funding a program that is not being implemented.”
Heritage Action for America likes the sound of this.
“Rep. Graves and his colleagues are stepping up to fill a critical void in the House,” said Mike Needham, the group’s CEO. “We encourage all members to support the Graves bill.”
Though this might have the votes to pass the Republican-controlled House, the chance for getting the green light from the Senate and the White House appears even less likely than the plan GOP leaders presented to members earlier this week.
“As we all know, the speaker has a problem, how to get the government funded,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday. “I told him very directly that all these things they’re trying to do on the Obamacare is just a waste of their time.”
Here’s a full list of the 42 current GOP co-sponsors of the new, Graves-led CR proposal, some of whom — such as Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona — told CQ Roll Call earlier this week that they were inclined to support the initial leadership strategy should that ultimately come to the floor for a vote.
Jim Jordan of Ohio
Mark Meadows of North Carolina
Jeff Duncan of South Carolina
Steve Southerland II of Florida
Doug Collins of Georgia
Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho
Trey Gowdy of South Carolina
Randy Weber of Texas
Pete Olson of Texas
Tom Marino of Pennsylvania
Steven M. Palazzo of Mississippi
Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania
Paul Broun of Georgia
Matt Salmon of Arizona
Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin
Richard Hudson of North Carolina
Jeb Hensarling of Texas
Ron DeSantis of Florida
Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia
Thomas Massie of Kentucky
Phil Gingrey of Georgia
Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma
Mo Brooks of Alabama
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
Randy Neugebauer of Texas
David Schweikert of Arizona
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Blake Farenthold of Texas
Bill Huizenga of Michigan
Luke Messer of Indiana
Bill Flores of Texas
Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina
Tim Huelskamp of Kansas
Steve Daines of Montana
Joe Wilson of South Carolina
Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
Reid Ribble of Wisconsin
Tom Price of Georgia
Austin Scott of Georgia
Marlin Stutzman of Indiana
Trent Franks of Arizona
Steve Chabot of Ohio