House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Fox News Sunday that any government spending bill passed by the House will have “fundamental changes” to the Affordable Care Act.
Pressed by host Chris Wallace about how the House would respond if the Senate rejected the bill passed Saturday night by the House — which would delay Obamacare for a year and repeal its medical device tax — McCarthy said the House had “a few other options” about how else to alter the law.
Senate Democratic leadership has pledged to reject the House bill, likely sending a clean spending bill back to the House on Monday with mere hours to go before the federal government shuts down.
“We will pass a bill that will keep the government open, that will reflect the House, that I believe the Senate can accept, that will have fundamental changes to Obamacare,” McCarthy said. So the House won’t pass a clean spending bill? “There will be additions,” he said.
National Review Online reported Saturday that House leadership was considering the so-called Vitter amendment, which would strip Obamacare subsidies for federal officials and their staff, as an 11th hour option for the spending bill.
