...De-funded vs. repealed
Key senators like Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, hold potential levers as well. "The court's ruling does not settle the debate," says Hutchison, who leaves office in January. "Congress can stop implementation of this disastrous government takeover of health care by repealing the law - or by de-funding implementation."
The little-known budget reconciliation procedure, dating from the 1974 Congressional Budget Act, enables a politically-divided Congress to drive through controversial tax and spending legislation to finance the annual budget blueprint adopted by the House and Senate.
The measure limits debate in the House and the Senate to just 20 hours, bars Senate filibusters and enables a Senate majority with less than a 60-vote super-majority to approve legislation.
It has been used almost two dozen times since 1980 to break Senate logjams, helping Republicans win passage of welfare reform in 1996 as well as $1 trillion in tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
Amid the current political gridlock on Capitol Hill, with Republicans controlling the House and Democrats controlling the Senate, "there is zero chance the health care law will be repealed this year," says political scientist Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. "But if Republicans gain enough seats in the Senate, hold the House and win the presidency, 'Obamacare' will be dramatically changed or abolished."
