Reps. Price, McMorris Rodgers to lead GOP response to healthcare ruling

House Republicans have tapped Reps. Tom Price (R-Ga.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) to lead their immediate response to the Supreme Court's healthcare decision Thursday.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) discussed the party's messaging strategy Wednesday at a closed-door caucus meeting. Republicans have been preparing for weeks to respond to the Supreme Court's decision, no matter how it comes down. The ruling is expected shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday.

Boehner told his troops that Price and McMorris Rodgers will be at the Supreme Court on Thursday to hear the decision, according to a source who was in the room during Wednesday's conference meeting.

If the court upholds the healthcare law or strikes down only part of it, House Republicans plan to bring bills to the floor to repeal however much of the law remains in place. If the court strikes the entire law, Republicans will call the move a win for patients, doctors and the economy.

The historic healthcare case will dominate the news media Thursday. If the court strikes the healthcare law, it would cast a cloud over President Obama's reelection campaign that no president has faced since Franklin Roosevelt.

Boehner said the GOP will deploy women and doctors, led by Price and McMorris Rodgers, to discuss the ruling on television.

A Democratic source said Democrats will match Republicans' press outreach.

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