Republicans Aim to Set House Rules for Obamacare Repeal

The moment of truth has arrived: House Republicans set in motion the process they hope will end in repeal of the new healthcare law. The House Rules Committee took up the Obamacare issue Thursday.

The committee’s official duty was to establish the terms of debate for the repeal vote, set for Wednesday. “We must pull it out by the roots,” Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said in his opening testimony, according to Politico.

But Democrats aren’t going easy. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., the ranking Rules Committee member, questioned why Republicans said they had no role in writing the law when they sat on committees that had about 100 hours of hearings.

“Your amendments were accepted,” she said to Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., now chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

He replied: “And many disappeared.”