- By
- JANET HOOK
- and
- KRISTINA PETERSON
- CONNECT
The vow from Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), a leading foe of the health law, pointed to a protracted and uncertain Senate battle that could drag Congress close to the Oct. 1 deadline for avoiding a partial government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) is confident that he has the votes to modify a bill that the House is expected to pass Friday, which would fund the government for the first 21/2 months of the fiscal year but eliminate health-law spending.
Getty ImagesSen. Ted Cruz, at the podium, says he will use 'everything necessary' to block a Senate vote on a spending bill that doesn't cut health-law funds.
While Mr. Reid believes he can strip the health-care cuts from that bill, Mr. Cruz and his allies have the power to drag out the debate. There also is no guarantee that the House would go along with the simple funding extension that Senate Democrats want to pass.
Mr. Cruz promised to do all he could to block the Senate Democrats' funding bill if it includes any money for the health law that is one of the landmarks of President Barack Obama's time in office. "I will do everything necessary and anything possible to defund Obamacare," Mr. Cruz said at a news conference with House conservatives and Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah). "Mike Lee and I will use every procedural means available."
The promise marked a change in tone from Mr. Cruz, who on Wednesday had angered some House Republicans when he issued a statement predicting that Mr. Reid would get his way. That prompted some House conservatives to accuse Mr. Cruz of being insufficiently willing to fight for a cause that he had called on them to take up.
It could take a week after the expected House passage of the spending bill for the Senate to surmount procedural hurdles, strip out measures hampering the health law and hold a final vote. The bill would then return to the House, but it is far from certain that GOP leaders would quickly bring it up and approve it without additional changes.
"If you listen to what Speaker [John] Boehner has said several times, he says there are other options," said Rep. Raul Labrador (R., Idaho). That raises the prospect of the House and Senate ping-ponging competing funding bills possibly past the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year, risking a government shutdown.
Mr. Boehner initially tried to avoid a protracted battle and didn't want to link the spending bill with the effort to strip money from the health law. He moved instead to advance a compromise more likely to pass the Senate. But that plan was rejected by GOP conservatives.
On Thursday, Mr. Boehner predicted "a big victory" in Friday's vote. "The fight over here has been won. The fight over there [in the Senate] is just beginning," he said. "I expect my Senate colleagues to do everything they can to defund this law, just like the House is going to do."
Mr. Reid made clear he was as determined as the GOP to play hardball. Asked if he was prepared to endure a government shutdown to protect the health law, he told reporters: "Yes."
"In case there is any shred of doubt in the minds of our House counterparts, I want to be absolutely crystal clear," Mr. Reid said. "Any bill that defunds Obamacare is dead. Dead."
Many Senate Republicans have been critical of the Cruz strategy of linking the health-care fight with the bill needed to keep the government running, because of the government-shutdown possibility.
And if such a bill cleared the Senate, they say, Mr. Obama would veto it. "I know what a box canyon looks like," said Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.). "Box canyon, here we come. This is a tactic that won't work."
Mr. Reid has a legislative maneuver to strip out the anti-Obamacare language with a simple majority of 51 votes—that is, without needing any support from Republican senators. "He has a way of making this work as he wishes," Mr. Corker said.
—Siobhan Hughes contributed to this article.Write to Janet Hook at [email protected] and Kristina Peterson at [email protected]
A version of this article appeared September 19, 2013, on page A5 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Spending Battle Set for the Senate.
