From the Washington Week Vault: Fighting to Repeal Obamacare

In the nearly five years since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives has voted over 50 times to repeal or defund all or part of the law. The first vote for repeal was on Jan. 19, 2011 -- just weeks into John Boehner's first term as Speaker -- and passed 245 to 189 with three Democrats voting yes, but the Democratic-controlled Senate never considered the bill. We look back in the Washington Week Vault to that first vote, a vote that the Los Angeles Times' Doyle McManus called the beginning of a "Republican guerrilla war against the healthcare plan." Now that Republicans control both the House and Senate, the GOP is considering new ways to roll back President Obama's signature achievement. And next week, the Republican House of Representatives will vote for the first time since May 2013 for a full repeal of the law.

Any vote to completely repeal Obamacare would certainly face a presidential veto, and without the votes to override the veto, Republicans are also focusing on areas where they think there is bipartisan agreement. Earlier this month, the House passed a series of piecemeal changes to Obamacare including: defining a full-time work week as 40 hours instead of the current 30 meaning employers could offer fewer workers health insurance under the employer mandate and exempting veterans who have coverage from the Department of Veterans Affairs from the employer mandate. None of the votes have yet been considered by the now-Republican-controlled Senate.