GOP-led House votes to repeal ObamaCare - Bill to undo Obama immigration actions, fund DHS fails in Senate test vote

WASHINGTON –  The House voted Tuesday to repeal the Affordable Care Act, getting Republicans on record in favor of overturning the law for the first time since the party took control of Congress.

The bill passed on a 239-186 vote. 

President Obama already has threatened to veto the legislation — and like past bills to repeal ObamaCare, it is unlikely to go far under the current administration, despite Republicans now controlling the Senate and having a bigger majority in the House.

But the vote serves as an opening shot in the 114th Congress’ efforts to chip away at the law. Several lawmakers have introduced bills to change or undo parts of the Affordable Care Act, and some could garner bipartisan support. 

“We need health care reform that makes the system more responsive to patients, families and doctors — reforms that preserve and protect the doctor-patient relationship. Right now, ObamaCare is moving our health care system in the exact opposite direction where the American people are paying more and getting less,” Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., said in a statement after the vote. “In the House of Representatives, we are saying we need to get rid of this law that’s not working and focus on solutions that will embrace the principles of affordability, accessibility, quality, innovation, choices, and responsiveness.” 

Prior to the vote, Obama questioned the logic behind it.

“So my understanding is the House scheduled yet another vote today to take health care away from folks around this table,” Obama said during a meeting with 10 people who have written him letters about how the ACA has helped them.

He added, “I’ve asked this question before. Why is it that this would be at the top of their agenda? It was maybe plausible to be against the Affordable Care Act before it was implemented. But now it has been implemented and it is working.”

The House has voted more than 50 times in the past two years to repeal all or parts of the law.

The legislation would go next to the Republican-controlled Senate.

While some say the vote is a symbolic gesture, the push to repeal ObamaCare comes as the Supreme Court weighs the King v. Burwell case, which challenges the legality of some subsidies offered through the president’s signature health care law. If the Supreme Court upholds a lower court’s verdict, it could severely undermine the law and fuel GOP efforts to at least change it. 

Republicans, as their next major step, are planning to draft legislation offering an alternative to the ACA. The bill approved Tuesday also directs House committees to begin work on an alternative plan, in case the Supreme Court rules against the law. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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GOP-led House votes to repeal ObamaCare - Bill to undo Obama immigration actions, fund DHS fails in Senate test vote

House votes to overturn Obama immigration actions, bill heads to Senate - VIDEO: White House blasts move to block Obama"s immigration action

The Republican-led House voted Wednesday to overturn President Obama’s immigration actions from last November — and to unravel a directive from 2012 protecting immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children — sending the bill to the Senate where it faces an uncertain fate. 

The House voted 236-191 to approve the legislation, which funds the Homeland Security Department through the rest of the budget year to the tune of $40 billion. But as part of that bill, Republicans added provisions to gut the president’s immigration directives. 

Despite deep Democratic opposition, the House voted 237-190 on an amendment to undo the actions Obama announced in November that provide temporary deportation relief, and offer work permits, to some 4 million illegal immigrants. 

Another amendment would cancel Obama’s 2012 policy that’s granted work permits and stays of deportation to more than 600,000 immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as kids. That measure passed more narrowly, 218-209, as more than two dozen Republicans joined Democrats in opposition. 

Republicans say Obama’s moves amounted to an unconstitutional overreach that must be stopped. 

“We do not take this action lightly, but simply there is no alternative,” House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday. “It’s not a dispute between the parties or even between the branches of our government. This executive overreach is an affront to the rule of law and to the Constitution itself.” 

But as the White House threatened a veto, Democratic leaders claimed the GOP provisions would hurt immigrant families — and ultimately hurt Republicans politically. 

“The amendments … that the Republicans are tacking onto the bill, or at least trying to tack onto the bill, to keep the Department of Homeland Security open are inconsistent with our nation’s values and its history. They would tear families apart,” House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said. 

Even with Republicans in control of the Senate the bill faces tough chances there, especially because House GOP leaders decided to satisfy demands from conservative members by including a vote to undo the 2012 policy that deals with younger immigrants known as “Dreamers.” The amendment, which is opposed by some of the more moderate Republicans in the House, would ultimately expose those young people to deportation. 

Security-minded lawmakers on both sides of the aisle also are worried about using the DHS funding bill to wage the immigration fight, saying security funding should not be put at risk, particularly in the wake of the Paris terror attacks. Current DHS funding expires at the end of next month. 

In the Senate, Republicans would have to rally a 60-vote majority to advance the legislation, and they have only 54 members. 

With even some Republicans voicing reservations, the Senate may have to strip out the immigration provisions and send a straight DHS funding bill back to the House, as the Feb. 27 deadline looms. 

This, then, could set up another fight between GOP leadership and the conservative reaches of the party. 

One senior House GOP aide told Fox News, “I don’t know how this one ends.” 

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, in a written statement, said the bill would not pass the Senate. “Republicans have only been in control for a week and already they are picking an unnecessary political fight that risks shutting down the Department of Homeland Security and endangering our security,” he said, urging Republicans to pass a “clean” funding bill.

Some House Republicans acknowledged that the Senate is likely to reject their approach. 

“They’re not going to pass this bill,” Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., said in predicting the Senate outcome. 

Obama has threatened to veto the House bill, and Democrats roundly denounced it, even as immigrant advocates warned Republicans they risked alienating Latino voters who will be crucial to the 2016 presidential election. 

“Just two weeks into this new Congress, Republicans have turned a bipartisan issue, funding our Department of Homeland Security, into a cesspool of despicable amendments that cater to the most extremist anti-immigrant fringe,” Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., said in a House debate. 

Fox News’ Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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House votes to overturn Obama immigration actions, bill heads to Senate - VIDEO: White House blasts move to block Obama"s immigration action

VIDEO: El Salvador votes for new president

The people of El Salvador are voting in a presidential election.

The main rivals are current Vice-President Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the left-wing FMLN party and Norman Quijano of the conservative Arena alliance.

Neither is expected to win outright because a third candidate standing for a new independent party is likely to make a strong showing.

Will Grant reports.

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VIDEO: El Salvador votes for new president

IOC meetings open today, with 3 big votes ahead

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — With three major votes on the agenda, Olympic leaders begin week-long meetings today that will bring a close to Jacques Rogge’s 12-year reign as International Olympic Committee (IOC) president.

The IOC convenes in Buenos Aires to choose a host city for the 2020 Games, elect Rogge’s successor and add a sport to the 2020 line-up.First up, Rogge chairs his policymaking executive board for the last time, a two-day meeting to review a range of Olympic issues.The full IOC then convenes starting Friday for its 125th session — a landmark meeting that will set the Olympic movement’s direction for the next decade.On Saturday, the 100 or so IOC members will vote by secret ballot on the 2020 host, a three-way contest between Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul. A day later, the members will choose between wrestling, squash and baseball-softball for a spot in the 2020 Games. And next Tuesday, the IOC will elect a new president from among six contenders.After a two-year global campaign, Tokyo is seen as a slight favourite going into the final days of the 2020 race, pushing its case as a “safe pair of hands” at a time of global uncertainty.With the leak of radioactive water from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant raising concerns, Tokyo bid leader Tsunekazu Takeda has written to all IOC members seeking to reassure them that the city and its Olympic plans are “completely unaffected”.Madrid has picked up momentum in recent months, despite Spain’s recession and 27 per cent unemployment rate. Madrid contends that its bid makes the most economic sense because most of the venues are already built and only $1.9 billion will be spent on construction.Istanbul is urging the IOC to make a “historic” choice by taking the games to a new region and a city that links Europe and Asia. The bid has been scrambling to overcome the fallout from June’s anti-government protests and a slew of doping case, while the civil war and chemical attacks in neighbouring Syria underline the volatility of the region.The prime ministers of Japan, Spain and Turkey will lead the bid delegations here, travelling to Buenos Aires from the G20 summit in St Petersburg, Russia.Wrestling, meanwhile, looks in strong position to win back its place for 2020 after being surprisingly dropped from the list of core sports in February by the IOC executive board.Stung by the wake-up call, wrestling body FILA responded rapidly by changing leadership, giving women and athletes a bigger role in decision-making and adopting rule changes to make the sport more fan-friendly.Men’s baseball and women’s softball, which have been out of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games, have merged into a single federation to improve their chances for reinstatement. Squash is back for a third try at making it into the Olympics.IOC Vice-President Thomas Bach of Germany has been considered the longtime front-runner to succeed Rogge, the Belgian surgeon who served one eight-year term and was re-elected in 2009 to a second and final four-year mandate.Richard Carrion, a Puerto Rican banking executive who heads the IOC’s finance commission, and Vice-President Ng Ser Miang of Singapore shape up as the other main contenders.Also on the ballot are executive board members Sergei Bubka of Ukraine and C K Wu of Taiwan and former board member Denis Oswald of Switzerland.Bach, a 59-year-old lawyer, is a former Olympic athlete, winner of a team gold medal in fencing in 1976. He has served at the top levels of the IOC for years and is president of Germany’s national Olympic committee.Some members are uncomfortable with the pro-Bach lobbying by Sheik Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, the influential Kuwaiti who heads the Association of National Olympic Committees. But Bach downplays the connection.“I would, of course, be more than happy if the national Olympic committees would support me because I am an NOC president,” Bach said in telephone interview last week with The Associated Press. “But that is not enough. I want to be a president for all. You need the support from many different sides.”The IOC is looking into comments made by Sheik Ahmad in a German television interview five months ago and aired last weekend. He openly expresses support for Bach and says he is doing everything he can to help him get elected.Such comments are against IOC election rules. Sheik Ahmad could receive a warning or reprimand from the IOC Ethics Commission, though no severe sanctions are expected.Carrion, the 60-year-old head of Puerto Rico’s Banco Popular, has earned respect as the IOC’s money man. He negotiated the record $4.38-billion deal with NBC for US TV rights through 2020. He impressed members with his emotional notes-free speech during presentations by the six candidates in Lausanne in July.“They liked what they saw. They liked what they heard,” Carrion told the AP. “I’m happy with what I’ve done. I’m following my plan. I’m where I wanted to be at this point.”Ng, a 64-year-old businessman and diplomat, organised the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010 and represents an Asian continent that is growing in world influence.“I believe in my heart that I have the independence, the integrity, the leadership qualities and the required experience to take the movement to new levels over the next eight years,” he said in a letter to IOC members last week.Members of the delegation of Madrid 2020 Candidate City, (from left) Madrid 2020 CEO Victor Sanchez, Spanish Minister of Economy Luis de Guindos, Madrid mayor Ana Botella, President of Madrid 2020 Bid Committee Alejandro Blanco, Spanish IOC member Juan-Antonio Samaranch Junior and Madrid 2020 CEO Theresa Zabell posing during a press conference after their bid presentation before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members in Lausanne in July. (PHOTO: AFP)

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IOC meetings open today, with 3 big votes ahead