WASHINGTON, D.C.-Voting strictly on party lines, Republicans in the U.S. Senate failed by a vote of 51-47 to overturn the nation’s new health care law, passed by Democrat’s last year.
Emboldened by a U.S. District court ruling in Florida earlier this week that overturned the health care law in its entirety, GOP leaders forced a vote on the repeal amendment Wednesday but were unable to muster the necessary numbers to defeat it.
All Republican senators from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama voted to repeal the law.
While most congressional analysts expected the repeal effort to fail because Democrats hold the majority in the Senate, Republicans say the vote is still important to get on record.
“Most of our members campaigned on the idea that we would repeal the health care law and replace it with a bill that actually reduced health care costs so that more Americans can afford to buy insurance,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Wednesday.