Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer speaks during a news briefing after the Senate Democratic weekly policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. | Alex Wong/Getty Images Congress Senate Dems to try to stop DOJ's funding for Obamacare lawsuit support

Senate Democrats are going back on offense on health care, trying to block funding for the Justice Department’s support of a lawsuit against Obamacare.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced plans Wednesday to try and force a vote on a measure to protect the Affordable Care Act as an amendment to the disaster aid bill the Senate is now considering. The lawsuit is now being considered by the the Fifth Circuit.


"It will very simply prohibit the Department of Justice from using any funding to litigate the downfall of the ACA in the Circuit Court. Let's see if all of our Republican colleagues who have said they don't want to take away protections for preexisting conditions," Schumer said on Wednesday. "Let's see how our Republican colleagues will vote on this."

The vote, if granted, would put vulnerable Senate Republicans in a difficult position on health care politics. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would be unlikely to support having such a vote given how it will pit GOP senators against the Trump administration. It also could complicate passage of an aid bill aimed at helping the South, Midwest and Puerto Rico recover from storms.

"Will the leader do what he's so characteristically doing in the majority? Block this amendment?" Schumer asked. "Will any Republican on the other side stand up and say don't block it?"

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Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has been the Republican most outspoken in opposition to the Justice Department's plan. Others in the GOP generally dodged this week on saying whether they support the effort to dismantle the law.

On Monday, the Justice Department announced support of a lawsuit before an appellate court that would strike down the entirety of Obamacare. President Donald Trump has subsequently declared the GOP will now be the “party of healthcare” and tasked Senate Republicans Tuesday with preparing a new health care plan if the lawsuit is successful.