Late Thursday, the Senate approved a bill that would repeal most of the Affordable Care Act and strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood. The vote was 52 to 47, with two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Mark Kirk (Ill.) — joining all Democrats present in voting no. Republicans passed the legislation under a process called budget reconciliation that requires only 51 votes and can't be filibustered, and it now will be meshed with a similar bill already passed by the House. The House has voted to repeal ObamaCare numerous times over the past several years, but this would be the first bill to reach the president's desk. Obama, of course, has vowed to veto the bill, and it appears the Senate doesn't have the votes to override his veto.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Carney and Trump come face-to-face as bilateral tensions mountIN THE SPOTLIGHT For his first sit-down with an unpredictable frenemy, the Canadian prime minister elected on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment tried for an awkward detente
-
What will be Warren Buffett's legacy?Talking Points Observers call him 'the greatest investor of all time.'
-
Art review: "Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes From Art"Feature At the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, through Aug. 17
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measlesSpeed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study findsSpeed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influenceSpeed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreadsSpeed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozensSpeed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study findsSpeed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cowsSpeed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year
