Politics

Paul: Republicans unlikely to succeed in Obamacare defunding effort

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
Font Size:

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul says he doubts Republicans will succeed in their effort to defund Obamacare with a continuing resolution.

The House passed a CR Friday morning that funds the government at sequester levels through December 15 while defunding the unpopular health care law. The bill now heads over to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has declared that any bill that defunds Obamacare is “dead.”

Paul supports defunding Obamacare, but said that the GOP’s most recent effort was unlikely to be successful.

“I don’t think the president will sign any legislation to defund Obamacare, and neither will the Senate pass any legislation to defund Obamacare,” Paul told National Review.

“The president’s idea of politics is, he’s won this, and he’s not revisiting it,” he added.

Paul said Republicans lacked unity and leverage on the defunding issue.

“How this plays out, how this works, is that to get anything, you have to be united, and Republicans don’t appear to be united. You also need to pass legislation well in advance of the deadline, and then be willing to go through the deadline. If you don’t have those pieces, you don’t have the leverage,” he said.

“I didn’t paint a very pretty picture, did I? But that’s where we are. President Obama and the Democrats know Republicans won’t go through the deadline, he knows we’re just not serious, so he has the upper hand,” Paul said.

Follow Alexis on Twitter