Politics

Bachmann to vote against any funding bill that does not defund health-care law

Chris Moody Chris Moody is a reporter for The Daily Caller.
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Tea Party Caucus founder Rep. Michele Bachmann will vote against any proposal to fund the government through this fiscal year unless it strips all funding from the new health-care law, the Minnesota Republican said Friday.

“I am vowing to vote ‘no’ on future Continuing Resolutions to fund the government unless there is specific language included to defund Obamacare and rescind the funding that has already been appropriated,” Bachmann said in a statement released Friday. “Defunding Obamacare, along with defunding Planned Parenthood, must be non-negotiable planks in our budget negotiations.”

Bachmann joined five other House members Tuesday in a protest vote against a two-week resolution that trimmed about $4 billion from the budget. The House and Senate agreed to the measure to ward off a government shutdown and buy more time for negotiations with the Senate and the White House on a long-term continuing resolution.

The six Republican dissenters were not enough to derail the proposal, but Bachmann and others are actively working to build their coalition, a House GOP aide told The Daily Caller. Bachmann made her case earlier this week at a House Tea Party Caucus meeting, and the Republican Study Committee, which represents the chamber’s most conservative members, is encouraging GOP staffers to attend a Friday strategy session with former Appropriations Committee member Rep. Ernest Istook, now a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, on how to defund the health-care law.

“There’s at least a concerted effort to get a discussion going that could lead to a coalition of conservative members who take a stand similar to Rep. Bachmann,” the aide said.

It is highly unlikely that any funding proposal that defunds the health-care law will be enacted this year, and House Republican leaders have made clear that they’re aware.

“Something tells me [Obama] wouldn’t sign it,” House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan said Thursday.

The White House is in negotiations with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders, which are expected to carry over into the next few weeks. Vice President Joseph Biden met with leaders from both parties in a closed door session Thursday afternoon, although few details emerged on the progress of the talks.

“We had a good meeting, and the conversation will continue,” Biden, the only person in the room to release an official statement, said.

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