Tuesday: House starts healthcare repeal

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches, and then at noon to start work on H.R. 6079, the Repeal of Obamacare Act.

Members will start by debating the rule, which will like sound a lot like debate of the bill itself. Democrats on the Rules Committee argued on Monday that Republicans are wasting their time on yet another healthcare repeal vote that will go nowhere in the Senate.

But Republicans are committed to the vote, and say it's necessary in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision that the individual health insurance mandate is constitutional when viewed as a tax. Look for these points to be raised over and over on the floor today.

The rule for the bill is expected to be approved by the early afternoon, after which the House will start five hours of debate. The House will finish the bill Wednesday.

The Senate meets at 10 a.m., and at noon will vote on John Fowlkes to be a U.S. district judge for the Western District of Tennessee.

At 2:25 p.m., the Senate will vote to end debate on a motion to proceed to S. 2237, the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act. That bill offers a tax credit of up to $500,000 for salaries that companies pay above the 2011 salaries they paid out, which acts as an incentive for companies to hire workers. It also extends bonus depreciation for another year on new equipment.

It's unclear how many Republicans will accept the bill's $28.5 billion price tag, which is not offset with spending cuts.

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