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McConnell Won’t Filibuster House-Passed CR

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rejecting Sen. Ted Cruz’s strategy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell won’t support a filibuster of the House-passed continuing resolution that defunds Obamacare, since he supports that bill itself.

“Sen. McConnell supports the House Republicans’ bill and will not vote to block it, since it defunds Obamacare and funds the government without increasing spending by a penny. He will also vote against any amendment that attempts to add Obamacare funding back into the House Republicans’ bill,” said Don Stewart, spokesman for McConnell, R-Ky. “If and when the Majority Leader goes down that path, Washington Democrats will have to decide — without hiding behind a procedural vote — whether or not to split with their leadership and join Republicans and their constituents in opposing the re-insertion of Obamacare funding into the House-passed bill.”

In effect, McConnell is dismissing the tactic advocated by Cruz. The Texas Republican is pushing for Republicans to filibuster the House-passed stopgap spending bill that they actually support, trying to force Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to agree to an unusual demand that a germane amendment (to strike out defunding for Obamacare) be subject to a supermajority vote threshold.

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