House Republicans Take First Step to Repealing Obamacare

In one smell step for asshole-kind, a resolution has been introduced in the House instructing both chambers to begin the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act.

House Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi introduced the resolution which both chambers of Congress will vote on next week.

The budget resolution contains so-called reconciliation instructions, directing committees to dismantle Obamacare as part of reconciling taxes and spending with the budget blueprint - and to report back to the budget committee by Jan. 27.

A Senate vote on the resolution could come next week, with action in the House of Representatives expected to follow.

The process of actually crafting legislation to repeal the law could take months, but there's another monkey in the wrench.

Just before the holiday break, Congress passed a continuing resolution that funds the federal government until May of this year. Their efforts to repeal Obamacare and their efforts to actually pass a budget for fiscal 2017 (which will be more than half over by that time) are going to bump into each other.

Congressional Republican can scarcely handle even one task at a time, so juggling two massive pieces of legislation seems like a stretch.

With that said, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they will combine both into one package, but it seems more likely to me they will punt on fiscal 2017 and move straight toward fiscal 2018.

In an ordinary year, Congress would begin work on a budget for the next fiscal year in the coming months rather than scrambling to pick up the pieces of the previous fiscal year.

Congress has not passed a comprehensive budget in years.

No plan.