House Republican Demands The Government Be Shut Down Unless Obamacare Is Defunded

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The effort to force a government shut down unless the ACA is defunded gained another supporter as Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) was emphatic that he will not vote the fund the government unless Obamacare is defunded.

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Rep. McClintock said:

What happens is as we approach the end of the fiscal year on September 30th and the authorization for the federal government to spend money expires, we face the prospect of a government shutdown if something doesn’t happen, and that something is a continuing resolution which essentially puts aside all of that painstaking work on the appropriations bills, has gone into months and months of deliberations, and they simply kick the can down the road for another year. So, I’ve been committed. I told the House leadership, I will cut you a lot of slack on the appropriations bills. I understand they have to be reconciled with the Senate, this is a compromising process, they have to be approved by the president. But I am not going to vote for any more continuing resolutions that simply kick that can down the road. Now, I’ll make one exception to that, and that is if we can get a provision in the continuing resolution that defunds Obamacare this year…

For example, they’ve delayed the president has asserted a horrifying and unconstitutional authority to choose which laws he enforces and parts of the law he enforces. Now remember, Article II of the constitution sets up the presidency. What’s the president’s singular responsibility? To see that the laws are faithfully executed. That’s in his oath. He’s not allowed to nullify those laws that he finds objectionable, but that is exactly what he is doing. So he is now temporarily nullifying the requirement that your employer buy an Obamacare health plan…

President Obama is doing absolutely nothing illegal by delaying implementation. Yesterday, Rand Paul claimed that the president was illegally rewriting legislation, but McClintock is claiming that the president is illegally temporarily nullifying laws. A law can not be temporarily nullified. It is either nullified or it isn’t. Temporary nullification is another fantasy term that Republicans have invented because delaying the implementation of the law isn’t a crime.

Most congressional Republicans are disagreeing with the idea that the government should be shutdown unless Obamacare is defunded. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said that it will be virtually impossible to defund Obamacare.

It is pretty easy to see where this government shutdown standoff is heading. House Republicans want to shutdown the government, Senate Republicans are divided. If the government shuts down President Obama will turn up the heat, cut a favorable deal with a handful of Senate Republicans, and wait for John Boehner’s fractured House to cave.

There will be no defunding of the ACA, and it is a pretty safe bet that before the end of the year Speaker Boehner will try to soothe the angry natives by holding another meaningless vote on repealing or defunding Obamacare.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association