This Week in Congress: House Seeks to Change Obamacare, Boehner Rejects Senate Immigration Reform, and Senate passes LGBT Non-Discrimination Bill

     On Friday this week the House of Representatives in response to growing concerns over the rollout of the Affordable Healthcare Act have passed the "Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013". This act would allow insurers to extend insurance plans through 2014 that would otherwise be canceled for not complying with the Affordable Healthcare Act (CNN). Additionally the bill would allow new enrollees to buy these plans (CNN).   Surprisingly this bill passed with 39 House Democrats voting in support. This shows that doubts over the implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act exists across political parties. This measure shows a degree of bipartisanship rarely seen as evident by the most recent government shutdown. This may also be evident of electoral forces acting on those Democrats who voted in support of the bill, as they may be from districts that are more vulnerable in the coming 2014 election. Though passing through the House with a limited degree of bipartisanship the measure has little chance of passing through the Democratic controlled Senate (CNN). However this degree of bipartisanship may foreshadow future challenges to the Affordable Care Act.
     This Wednesday Speaker of the House John Boehner bluntly rejected the Senate Immigration Reform Bill. Boehner repeated his objections to the Senate passed immigration bill stating "I'll make clear we have no intention ever of going to conference on the Senate bill" (Deirdre Walsh). Speaker Boehner has insisted that any immigration legislation should be done in smaller increments as opposed to a larger, all-in-one, approach as done by the Senate (Deirdre Walsh). Speakers Boehner's reluctance to take up the issue of immigration reform may be due to the reluctance of the House Republicans to address the issue of a path to citizenship for the undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States (Deirdre Walsh). Speaker Boehner's adamant refusal to take up the Senate Bill shows a clear ideological divide between not only the House and the Senate, but between House Republicans and Senate Republicans. For the present it seems like immigration reform is not likely to advance.
     This week the Senate passed a landmark workplace non-discrimination bill that for the first time includes lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered persons under federal non-discrimination statutes (Leigh Ann Caldwell). The bill "The Employment Nondiscrimination Act", or ENDA, passed the Senate in a 64 to 32 vote with a number of Senate Republicans supporting the measure. Though passing the Senate with support of key Republicans "opposition in the Republican-controlled House is strong, minimizing any chance the measure will become law" (Leigh Ann Caldwell). Like the Senate immigration reform EDNA's passage into law may be stalled by the House refusing to take it up; Speaker Boehner's spokesman stated that "The Speaker believes this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs" (Leigh Ann Caldwell). The measure, seen as revolutionary, seems to be at the mercy of ideologues in the House and partisan politics.

Written by Jacob Hill and Oliver Katz
Sources:
CNN. House passes proposed GOP Obamacare changes. posted November 15th, 2013. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/15/house-passes-proposed-gop-obamacare-changes/
Walsh, Deirdre. Boehner rules out immigration reform this year. CNN. Posted November 13th, 2013. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/13/boehner-rules-out-immigration-reform-this-year/?hpt=po_t1
Caldwell, Leigh Ann. Senate passes LGBT anti-discrimination bill. CNN. Posted November 8th, 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/politics/senate-lgbt-workplace-discrimination/index.html