On Monday, the House Rules Committee will convene for a special meeting to advance legislation (HR 6053) that would repeal the federal health reform law, Politico reports.
Immediately following the Supreme Court's decision last week to uphold the law, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced that the House would vote on repeal legislation during the week of July 9 (Politico, 7/5). Cantor's office later announced that the floor vote likely will be July 11 (Catalini, "Influence Alley," National Journal, 7/5).
Republicans Highlight Discrepancy in White House Defense of Individual Mandate
Meanwhile, Republicans are seeking to recover ground in the ongoing debate with Democrats on the law's individual mandate, The Hill's "Healthwatch" reports.
After the Supreme Court allowed the mandate to stand as a tax, the Obama administration sought to clarify that the coverage requirement imposes a penalty. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney concurred with the high court's ruling.
During an interview with CNN on Thursday, Obama's re-election campaign spokesperson Ben LaBolt said the Obama administration has continued to insist that the mandate constitutes a penalty "that's under the section of the law that's the tax code," adding that the administration has "never referred to it as a tax" in court.
The Republican National Committee responded to LaBolt's remarks, noting in emails to the media that U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued before the Supreme Court that the mandate is constitutional under Congress' taxing authority, according to "Healthwatch" (Viebeck, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 7/5).