By Melissa Attias, CQ Staff

Once the Supreme Court announces its ruling on the health care law, expected as early as Monday, the spotlight will shift almost immediately back across the street to the Capitol.

Republicans want the entire law to fall and have been pushing for full repeal since the legislation was signed into law in March 2010. But if the court strikes down “all or part” of the measure, Speaker John A. Boehner warned House Republicans, “there will be no spiking of the ball.”

“We will not celebrate at a time when millions of our fellow Americans remain out of work, the national debt has exceeded the size of our nation’s economy, health costs continue to rise, and small businesses are struggling to hire,” the Ohio Republican wrote in a June 21 memo. “Obamacare has contributed to all of these problems. Repealing it completely is part of the solution ... but it is only one part.”

If the court doesn’t throw out the entire law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152), however, House GOP leaders have said that in the weeks after the decision they will move to repeal whatever is left of the overhaul.

“Such action is critical for jobs and our economy and for the health care of millions of American families,” Boehner said in the memo. Then the House needs to “enact common-sense, step-by-step reforms that protect Americans’ access to the care they need, from the doctor they choose, at a lower cost.”

Republicans have also vowed not to rush through any replacement legislation, although it’s unlikely Congress would have time to clear anything significant before the November elections even if both parties in both chambers wanted to.

Possible Aftermath

Beyond that, exactly what actions the House will take and when remains unclear. Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., indicated last week that the law and its effect on employers would continue to be a focus for his party in July, with the outcome of the ruling determining how they move forward.

“If we have to act in response to that to assure all Americans that we want and care about their health care, if we have to act, we will do so,” Cantor told Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., June 21 in response to a question about the House schedule in July. “If the court does not strike down the bill in its entirety, the gentleman knows our conference is fully committed to repeal, total repeal of the Obamacare bill.”

A ruling that voids the entire law may also put Republicans in the tricky situation of having to decide whether to address any of the overhaul’s more popular provisions that have already gone into effect, such as the one that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance policies until they turn 26, and the drug discounts for seniors who fall in Medicare’s coverage gap.

In a C-SPAN interview that aired June 17, House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Tom Price of Georgia was asked if he believes there is an appetite among his conference to vote on policies that were included in the 2010 law.

“What we will do is go through a rational, methodical process to determine what disruption there is out there for patients, for citizens across this land,” Price said, while noting he doesn’t expect to immediately see significant disruption because a lot of benefits are provided through contracts. “And then depending on what disruption is out there, then determine the best course of action.”

House Democrats