What can Congress do?

Congress could repeal the law.

In the 2017-2018 Congress, Republicans held a majority in both houses of Congress.

Because of the Senate's filibuster rules, however, repealing the law - as well as enacting a new one to replace it - effectively would require support from enough Democrats to achieve 60 votes. Without a replacement offering the same protections as the ObamaCare currently provides, it was unlikely that enough Democrats would have allowed that to happen. And they didn't.

Reconciliation bypasses the filibuster - but with restrictions

A procedure known as budget reconciliation. Reconciliation bills can be passed with a simple majority. Filibusters are not allowed.

There's a catch, however. Senate Reconciliation can be used only for issues that directly affect spending or revenue (taxes). Therefore, it cannot be used to alter ObamaCare's protections.

But it still can do a lot. For example, a Reconciliation bill likely could...

Starting in 2019, Democrats controled the House

Reconciliation bills - like any other - require approval of both houses of Congress to be enacted.

Reconciliation bills were possible prior to 2019 because Republicans controlled both houses.

In 2019, Democrats became the majority party in the House of Representatives. As a result, Republicans no longer had the ability to pass reconciliation bills. Any bills (including those that would end ObamaCare), now require support from Democrats.

President Trump issues first-day executive order

On Jan. 20, 2017 - Donald Trump's first day in office - the new president issued an executive order stating his administration's intent to seek the repeal of ObamaCare and give more control to individual states in setting health care policy.

The order contains no specific instructions, and it has had no effect on the law.

One vote in Senate prevents ObamaCare gutting

The Senate attempted to pass a bill that would have repealed key ObamaCare components.

It was referred to as the Skinny Repeal, and failed to pass the Senate by one vote

American Healthcare Act: ObamaCare repeal fails in Senate

The biggest threat to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was a bill that came out of the the budget reconciliation process.

The American Health Care Act went through several iterations as Congressional Republicans tried to find a proposal that could be agreed to by 50 of their 52 senators (with all Democrats voting against the bill Vice President Mike Pence would have cast the tie-breaking vote).

Because the bill was subject to budget reconciliation rules, the Senate had until Sept. 30, 2017 (the end of the government's fiscal year) to pass it.

On Sept. 26, after 3 Republican senators said they would vote against the bill, Senate Republican leaders pulled the bill from consideration, keeping Obamacare in place.

Obamacare can be disabled by eliminating funding

The House of Representatives and Senate passed a concurrent resolution calling for congressional committees to draft bills that reduce spending.

Because these bills would affect spending or revenue (taxes) directly, they are eligible to be passed through the Budget Reconciliation process.

While such bills could not change basic requirements of ObamaCare and still be eligible for the Reconciliation process, they can eliminate funding and enforcement - effectively disabling the nation's health care policy.

The resolution does not need to be signed by the president, because it is not enforceable. Subsequent bills arising from this one (for which Reconciliation is expected to be used), would require the president's signature in order to take effect.

Click here to read our discussion of the resolution.