Congressman Frelinghuysen Votes With Republicans To Defund Obamacare

The Republican Congressman for the Caldwells continues to vote alongside his party to shutdown the federal government unless the Affordable Care Act is defunded.

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11) voted  “Yea” with fellow House Republicans on a bill on Sept. 20 which started the countdown for the government shutdown. The House bill funded the government but also defunded the new federal health law, commonly known as Obamacare, according to CNN.com.

The vote fell mostly along partly lines with a final tally of 230-189.

In response, the Senate passed an emergency-funding measure Friday, Sept. 27, to keep the government running through Nov. 15 after removing Republican language to ending the federal health care act, according to Reuters. 

In a rare weekend vote, House Republicans then passed a short-term funding bill on Sunday that would delay the new federal health law and permanently repeals a tax on medical devices, according to POLITICO.com.

Sunday’s vote tally was 231-192, with Frelinghuysen (R-11) voting “Yea” along with fellow Republicans. 

Frelinghuysen did not respond to calls for comment. 

Read more: Check out Patch's top 5 things you should do before a government shutdown.

Even if the Senate passes the House bill, it would not get the president’s signature. President Barack Obama has repeatedly said he will not negotiate on the debt ceiling and neither defund nor delay the new health-care law, according to The Wall Street Journal.

On Monday, the Senate acted again by voting to strip language defunding Obamacare from a short-term bill to keep the government open, according to The Huffington Post. The vote was 54 to 46. 

The latest step in the battle came after the House over the weekend took up the Senate's bill to fund the government through Nov. 15 and added to it provisions to restrict funding for contraception, repeal a medical device tax and delay for one year implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

This shutdown showdown is a prelude to the government reaching the federal debt ceiling later in October, which allows the Treasury Department to continue borrowing in order to meet the government’s financial obligations, according to The New York Times.

Update: Monday 11 p.m. 

The House continued its efforts to unhinge the health-care law late Monday night. 

At 8:41 p.m. Monday, the House passed a federal spending bill with a vote of 228-201 to avert a government shutdown. The bill also proposed to delay the individual mandate that requires all Americans to have health coverage or pay a fine, according to The Washington Times.  

Rep. Frelinghuysen once again followed Republicans by voting in favor of the bill.

Update: Tuesday 

Congress was unable to agree on a government spending bill by midnight on Tuesday so federal government officially was closed for business and was thrust into a shutdown for the first time since 1996. About 800,000 government employees would be affected and furloughed, according to The New York Times.