After final votes were cast, members of Congress walk down the steps of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington Friday as they leave for a five-week recess. With few accomplishments in the divided 113th Congress, the next big battle is over the budget, the nation’s debt limit and the possibility of at least a partial government shutdown.WASHINGTON – For the 40th time, Republicans pushed legislation through the House on Friday targeting President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, this one a bill preventing the Internal Revenue Service from implementing any part of the health care law.
The measure, symbolic because of the certainty that it will be ignored by the Democratic-led Senate, was approved by a near party-line 232-185 vote.
The legislation married two of the GOP’s favorite targets: the 2010 health care law and the IRS, which in May conceded it had improperly targeted conservative groups seeking tax exempt status for detailed investigations.
Next year, the IRS will begin enforcing the requirement that most individuals have health insurance, collecting fines from people who don’t. The agency also will distribute subsidies to help people buy insurance in new exchanges.
Repealing those provisions would enfeeble the heart of the measure, which was aimed in part at making health care more affordable for lower-income people. Analysts say healthy people must purchase health care to help cover the costs of those who are ill, and the fines are designed to prod those who are fit to buy policies.