Following yesterday's ruling by a federal judge in Florida striking down the health care reform law as unconstitutional, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., introduced an amendment on Tuesday to repeal the law.
McConnell introduced the House-passed repeal bill as an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization bill, saying that the amendment offers Democrats an opportunity to reevaluate what the law has done on the issue of health care.
"For all those who supported the health law, it's an opportunity to reevaluate your vote," McConnell said in remarks on the Senate floor. "To listen to your constituents who are desperately trying to get your attention."
"You can say, perhaps this was a mistake. We can do this better," he added. "Or you can continue to dismiss the majority of the people in this country as not knowing what they're talking about."
Last month, the House voted 245 to 189 to repeal the health care reform law, with the outcome reflecting the new Republican majority in the chamber. Just three Democrats voted in favor of repeal.
Democrats maintain a 53 to 47 majority in the Senate, however, making passage of McConnell's amendment appear unlikely. President Barack Obama would also have the option of vetoing any bill that included a repeal of the health care reform law.
Commenting on McConnell's amendment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, "It's beyond me why Republicans are obsessed with fighting past battles when Americans say they want Congress focused on creating jobs."
He added, "Instead they are focused on protecting big insurance companies - and the result of that dangerous plan would be an increased deficit, higher taxes for small businesses and increased prescription drug prices for millions of seniors."
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson struck down the health care reform law on Monday, ruling that the mandate for individuals to buy health insurance is unconstitutional.
"Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void," Vinson wrote in his opinion.
With the ruling, Vinson became the second federal judge to rule that the health care law is unconstitutional, while two other judges have ruled in favor of the constitutionality of the bill.
The Obama administration said it would appeal Vinson's ruling, and the final decision on the law's constitutionality is widely expected to be rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.