Writing for the conservative blog RedState.com on Monday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) insisted that his goal is not to force a government shutdown but rather to undo the new federal health care law widely known as “Obamacare.”
“I didn’t come to Washington to shut down the federal government; I came to help bring it back to its proper role,” he wrote.
Rubio added that he anticipates President Barack Obama will resist an effort to defund his signature legislative achievement.
“He will insist on shutting down government unless ObamaCare is fully funded,” Rubio wrote. “But we simply cannot continue to pour money into this rapidly imploding program.”
The call by some Republicans to hold government funding hostage unless the Affordable Care Act is gutted has created a schism within the party, with Rubio aligning himself with the likes of Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ted Cruz (R-TX). Republicans like Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), on the other hand, have responded to the effort to gut Obamacare with derision.
