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US House passes budget bill that would defund healthcare law | US House passes budget bill that would defund healthcare law |
(about 2 hours later) | |
US lawmakers have passed a budget bill that would keep the government operating, while defunding President Barack Obama's healthcare law. | US lawmakers have passed a budget bill that would keep the government operating, while defunding President Barack Obama's healthcare law. |
The Republican-led House of Representatives voted 230-189, largely along party lines, in favour of the controversial measure. | The Republican-led House of Representatives voted 230-189, largely along party lines, in favour of the controversial measure. |
The Democratic-controlled Senate has promised to strip the "defund Obamacare" provision next week. | The Democratic-controlled Senate has promised to strip the "defund Obamacare" provision next week. |
Mr Obama vowed to veto the bill in the unlikely event it ever gets that far. | Mr Obama vowed to veto the bill in the unlikely event it ever gets that far. |
During a speech at a vehicle factory in Liberty, Missouri, on Friday, he criticised Republicans for the vote. | |
"They're focused on politics, they're focused on trying to mess with me," he told his audience. "They're not focused on you." | |
'Deadbeat America' | |
The government faces a potential shutdown on 1 October if Congress and the White House do not agree on a temporary budget measure. | The government faces a potential shutdown on 1 October if Congress and the White House do not agree on a temporary budget measure. |
A temporary bill is needed because Washington's longstanding budget stalemate has derailed the annual bills that would set the country's budget. | |
A government shutdown would delay pay for federal workers, including some military members, send non-essential employees home, close national parks and shut passport offices. | |
But programmes like air traffic control, food inspection and the US border agency would keep running. | |
The Republican-sponsored stopgap bill proposes funding federal agencies at an annualised rate of more than $986bn (£615bn), but includes a provision that strips federal funding for the Affordable Care Act. | The Republican-sponsored stopgap bill proposes funding federal agencies at an annualised rate of more than $986bn (£615bn), but includes a provision that strips federal funding for the Affordable Care Act. |
Also known as Obamacare, the 2010 law requires businesses with more than 50 workers to provide health insurance to all their full-time staff, or pay a series of increasingly severe penalties. | Also known as Obamacare, the 2010 law requires businesses with more than 50 workers to provide health insurance to all their full-time staff, or pay a series of increasingly severe penalties. |
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has called for an end to the law because it "is turning our full-time economy into a part-time economy". | House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has called for an end to the law because it "is turning our full-time economy into a part-time economy". |
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Republicans were "simply postponing for a few days the inevitable choice" between passing a bill without the provision or forcing a government shutdown. | On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Republicans were "simply postponing for a few days the inevitable choice" between passing a bill without the provision or forcing a government shutdown. |
"The Affordable Care Act has been the law of the land for three years," he said in a statement. "The Senate will not pass any bill that defunds or delays Obamacare." | "The Affordable Care Act has been the law of the land for three years," he said in a statement. "The Senate will not pass any bill that defunds or delays Obamacare." |
The US also faces a deadline to raise the debt ceiling, which authorises the US treasury to borrow up to a set limit. | |
In Missouri on Friday, Mr Obama said that if Congress fails to raise that level, "the United States will default on its obligations". "Basically, America becomes a deadbeat." | |
Mr Obama has said he will not be forced into making concessions as he did during the 2011 debt crisis, where he accepted a $2.1 trillion spending cut over a decade. |