The spending showdown is likely to hit as enrollment in the insurance exchanges starts. | REUTERS Rubio: Defund ACA for spending deal

Sen. Marco Rubio pledged Thursday that he won’t vote for a short-term spending bill to keep the government open unless it defunds the Affordable Care Act.

“I will not vote for a continuing resolution unless it defunds Obamacare,” the Florida Republican said at a breakfast hosted by The Weekly Standard and Concerned Veterans for America. He called on his fellow senators to do the same. “I believe we should not vote or pass a continuing resolution unless that continuing resolution defunds Obamacare.”


The spending showdown is likely to hit around the time that enrollment in the Obamacare health insurance exchanges start in October. “This debate is going to take place the same time as the implosion of Obamacare is happening before your eyes,” he said.

( QUIZ: Do you know Marco Rubio?)

In a speech full of praise for how “special and unique” America is, Rubio aimed some of his harshest criticism of President Barack Obama at his health care law, calling it “un-implementable.”

He predicted a host of disastrous consequences as Obamacare is rolled out this fall, predicting that insurance exchanges won’t be ready on time and the government won’t verify people’s income to make sure they’re not collecting too much in insurance subsidies.

Rubio said it will all come to a head when most members of Congress realize they’ll have to drop their federal insurance plans and go into the exchanges in January — a requirement in the law that many never intended to be included in the final legislation but that no one has yet figured out how to undo.

“I’ll tell you when it’s going to come to a head is when members of Congress realize that they, too, will lose their health insurance, and they, too, will be thrown into a federal exchange,” Rubio said.

Rubio cast the Affordable Care Act as one of many examples of the extent of the two parties’ philosophical differences, saying their stark disagreements over the budget, the environment and gun control are other key issues.

In his 20-minute speech, Rubio did not mention immigration, which is now before the House. He was one of the forces behind the Senate’s bipartisan bill.