What the First 36 Votes to 'Repeal' Obamacare Look Like, Combined
Later today, the House of Representatives will hold its 37th vote on curtailing the Affordable Care Act. A little clarification about what that means is in order.
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The Washington Post compiled the focus and results of each of these votes. If you're interested in the details of what each of those votes has targeted, go take a look. If you're wondering about data behind the votes, please allow us.
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When the votes happened
As soon as a Republican majority took control of the House in early 2011, the votes to stem the implementation of the ACA began. On February 19 of that year, a vote on a funding resolution included ten different attempts to restrict funding to components of Obamacare.
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What the votes targeted
Few of the votes were actually votes to repeal Obamacare, as has been suggested. The vast majority were instead attempting to use Congress' preferred tool for blocking legislation: keeping it from being funded. The votes to block funding were rarely to cut all funding; most targeted specific implementations. One vote targeted the staffing needed to implement the policy, a slight variation on an attempt to cut funding.
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How the House voted
By our estimate, the total of votes on impeding the legislation were 5,838 for, 4,888 against (excluding several of the Feb 19, 2011 votes). That's an average of 216 to 181 over the course of the votes.
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How each vote turned out
As indicated above, most of the votes were fairly close. The vast majority of votes to end aspects of the Affordable Care Act came from Republicans, though the colors below reflect result, not party.
Again, for more details on each vote, head to The Washington Post. Once the 37th vote has happened, we will provide an update on the results below. The following chart, however, will not need to be updated.
