Senate Republicans made a big deal out of their impending vote to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood through the use of reconciliation; a process that allows them to bypass a Democratic filibuster. They even went through the process of consulting the Senate Parliamentarian who gave them the OKay to do so.
Under the rules of reconciliation Senate Republicans would only need a simple majority of 51 votes to pass their bill, but they apparently can't even manage that.
Their vote to repeal Obamacare has been delayed until next year and possibly indefinitely.
Now some aides say it may be best to wait until next year or even 2017 to pass as strong a package as possible.
“There could be procedural reasons or vote reasons why we can’t get a bill at all, so it seems the one common denominator amongst everybody is to not mess it up,” said a Senate GOP aide. [...]
“There are five that say you have to repeal all of ObamaCare or they’d vote against it, and you have three that say you have to take Planned Parenthood out or they won’t vote for reconciliation,” said another Senate GOP aide.
I think it's safe to say that if Senate Republicans cannot muster enough to votes to repeal Obamacare with a simple majority, the law will never be repealed. It's here to stay.
President Obama obviously wouldn't sign a bill to repeal his signature legislation, but Republicans may not have enough votes to repeal the law even under a Republican president.
With that said, there's no reason to rest on our laurels or take it for granted.