Will Boehner be able to make House Republicans do what he wants this fall? So far, it's not looking great. There's a split between Republicans who want to shut down the government unless Obama agrees to defund Obamacare and Republicans who think that's crazy. A dozen Republican senators have signed Sen. Mike Lee's pledge to "not support any continuing resolution or appropriations legislation that funds further implementation or enforcement of Obamacare." On the other side, you've got Sen. Richard Burr, who told Public Radio International on Wednesday, "That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard of... As long as Barack Obama is president, the Affordable Care Act is going to be the law." Sen Tom Coburn told Politico, "My feeling is if you want to make sure that the Democrats take control of the House, run that strategy."

There is no chance Obamacare will actually be defunded, The Washington Examiner's Byron York reports. Senate Republicans would need 67 votes to override a presidential veto — that means 21 Democrats. But the goal is to win by losing, a Republican Senate aide tells York. "We have to try," the aide says. "Having this fight will show the people who sent us here that we are a party of principle. And after we lose this fight, all of our guys are going to have an issue that we can run on and win."

In a Wednesday House GOP leadership meeting, Politico's Manu Raju and Jake Sherman report, participants discussed passing a bill to fund the government for two months, because they'll have just nine days to come to a budget agreement when they come back from recess in September. "But Republican leaders are growing concerned by the fervor with which some members are demanding that Boehner defund the health care law as part of the government funding talks," they write. In the House, Rep. Mark Meadows is circulating a similar letter to the one in the Senate calling for a shutdown unless Obamacare is defunded. It has more than 60 signatures. Boehner hasn't said whether he'd try to use the government funding bill to defund the law.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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