U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is leading an effort to defund President Obama’s landmark health care law, and he’s recruiting a team of Senate Republicans to help him.
Fourteen Republican senators have signed on, including Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, David Vitter of Louisiana, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, John Thune of South Dakota and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, according to The Blaze. And they’ve agreed to block a continuing resolution for government spending beyond Sept. 30 if Obamacare funding is included.
“The president has said that he’s not willing and not able to enforce Obamacare as it was written,” Lee told The Blaze in a phone interview. “And so he has chosen instead to enforce this law selectively.”
Lee said that once Congress passes a law, it cannot be amended without congressional approval.
“He has picked out two things that he has said he won’t enforce,” Lee said in the interview. “One is the employer mandate and the other is the requirement that the government obtain some kind of proof for those who are claiming eligibility for Obamacare exchange subsidies.”
Lee explained that defunding Obamacare would not affect provisions already implemented, such as covering pre-existing conditions and including children on their parents’ plans until age 26. Instead, the action mainly targets individual mandates.
Others, including the House Republican caucus, will likely join the effort, Lee said, adding that he does not want to shut down government but feels this is the last chance to stop Obamacare.
“What I am saying is that I won’t vote to pass a continuing resolution that contains Obamacare funding,” Lee said. “It would be unfortunate if Democrats in the Senate insisted on shutting down the government simply because they want to defend – regardless of the costs – a law that has become increasingly, untenably unpopular among the American people.”
Watch Lee’s appearance explaining his position on “Hannity” Tuesday:
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