Conservatives tell GOP leaders they want healthcare funding fight this year

Conservatives in the House are pushing GOP leaders to continue the campaign against President Obama’s healthcare law even after Wednesday’s vote to repeal the law.

Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) are gathering signatures this week for a letter asking GOP leaders to defund the healthcare law this year.

{mosads}”We appreciate your willingness to schedule a vote on the full repeal of ObamaCare,” the letter states. “We should continue efforts to repeal the law in its entirety this year, next year, and until we are successful.  However, in the meantime, there is more we can do in Congress.”

Jordan chairs the Republican Study Committee, and Bachmann leads the House Tea Party Caucus.

A recent poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggested that independent voters are tired of the healthcare debate and want Congress to move on to other issues. But Republicans believe the Supreme Court’s healthcare ruling provided an opening to rally their base around the issue.

Jordan and Bachmann asked Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) not to bring bills to the floor this year that would provide funding to implement the Affordable Care Act. They also said the House should “take legislative steps necessary to immediately rescind all ObamaCare-implementation funds.”

The letter has 80 signatures so far.

Defunding poses a serious challenge to the Affordable Care Act. Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said Wednesday that it’s one of the most potent weapons Republicans would have against the law if they win the White House or a majority in the Senate.

Republicans pledged to defund the health law after winning the House majority in 2010, but those efforts have produced only relatively minor cuts.