US House passes bill that would defund Affordable Care Act

In a 230-189 vote the Republican dominated House of Representatives passed a stopgap spending bill on Friday 20 September that would strip all funding for the Affordable Care Act.

Funding for the federal government runs out on 30 September, the end of the fiscal year. Unless a funding package is passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law by then, much of the US government will have to shut down the next day.

The House speaker, John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, called the vote “a victory …