GOP plans vote to defund healthcare

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says he expects an amendment to eliminate funding will be offered next week.

A House bill funding the federal government through the rest of the year will not include money to implement healthcare reform, the chamber’s second-ranking Republican said Tuesday.

The original version of the legislation won’t include defunding language, but House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said he expects an amendment will take care of that by the time the House votes on a bill next week.

"I expect to see one way or another the product coming out of the House to speak to that, to preclude any funding to be used for that," Cantor said.

With a vote to repealing healthcare passing in the House but failing in the Senate, defunding the law is part of a multi-prong Republican strategy to weaken President Obama’s signature legislative achievement.

If the House passes a bill with defunding language in it, that will set up a battle with the Democratic-controlled Senate on a short deadline. The current resolution funding the government is set to expire March 4.

---