House effort to kill 'Obamaphone' program fails

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

An effort by House Republicans to end federal "Obamaphone" subsidies for wireless voice and broadband service fell short on Tuesday.

 

The "End Taxpayer Funded Cell Phones Act" won a majority of votes in the House, 207-143. But it was considered under a suspension of House rules, a process used to more quickly process non-controversial bills.

 

So-called suspension bills need a two-thirds majority to pass, and the final tally fell short of that mark because most Democrats opposed the measure. While it failed on Tuesday, Republicans have the option of bringing it back up and passing it under regular rules, and with a simple majority vote.