The GOP-led Congress will reconvene Tuesday to execute the long-awaited repeal and replacement of Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, as it is more formally known.
Congress is poised to begin this effort Tuesday afternoon when the House Rules Committee meets to discuss the repeal, initially proposed by Congress back in 2010.
The debate and final vote could wrap up as early as Tuesday. Congress will then send the measure directly to President Obama for consideration, as the Republican-led Senate has already passed its version of the repeal.
Obama has indicated in the past that he will not undo the controversial health care law, and Congress does not have enough votes to override the anticipated veto.
By following through with the repeal effort, Republicans hope to make headway in the six-year battle surrounding Obamacare.
Neither the House nor the Senate has ever debated a bill that attempts to override the law as no one has ever created a plan that would pass in either chamber.
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has promised to present a bill that could replace Obamacare.
U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has pledged that under his leadership, the House will "get our work done on time," promising that there will be no "mega bills at the end of the year.” The new proposed bill to replace the Affordable Care Act is a part of this new strategy. (Getty Images / Alex Wong)
Back in 2010, the House Republicans’ “Pledge to America” served as a political compact to transfer control of the House from the Democrats and demonstrate to voters what how they would use that power.
One of its proposals was to to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. After Republicans gained a House majority back in 2011, its first significant vote was to execute that repeal.
Though the House and Senate have voted more than 60 times to either fully or partially repeal the Affordable Care Act, they have yet to a vote to replace it. With Ryan leading the House and the GOP controlling the Senate, the party might vote for the first time pass a bill that would do just that.
Though Ryan is not overly optimistic about the possibility of Obama signing the bill, Tuesday will serve to contrast a major Republican initiative with an opposing presidential agenda.
“I kind of inherited this cake that we’ve already baked,” he told Fox News, indicating that the House was practically obligated to pass a replacement bill.
Democrats have long critiqued Republicans for neglecting to produce a bill that would succeed Obamacare.
If there were the votes to approve that elusive bill, Republicans would have done it. But if Republicans can at least draft a bill if not pass it, then both sides can begin a conversation about real policy.
“That’s the nature of compromise in a divided government,” Ryan told Fox.
The House initially approved the first version of Obamacare in November, 2009, with the Senate following on Christmas Eve of 2009. Both the House and the Senate passed the final health care packages in March of 2010.
This current undertaking will not be easy for Republicans. Some GOP aides have argued against having a replacement bill at the ready.
Such individuals have suggested the promise in the Pledge to America was to “repeal and replace” the ACA. And though there were votes to repeal the law in the House, the law was never actually repealed. Because of this, some have argued it wasn’t yet binding for Republicans to make good on the second contingency of replacing the statute.
Ryan won’t be able to implement the replacement package either with Obama still in the White House in 2016 -- if it does in fact get that far. If Ryan's initiative proves successful, he will have come further than anyone who came before him.
“I think we are well equipped," he told Fox.
(H/T: Fox News)
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