Â鶹ŮÓÅ

Even as Republicans rose in a chorus of outrage Thursday over the Supreme Court’s refusal to gut the Affordable Care Act, party leaders were privately relieved. Republicans were spared the challenge of having to come up with a solution for the 6.4 million Americans — most of them in conservative states — who might have found their health insurance unaffordable had the court gone the other way. (Tumulty, 6/25)

Democrats celebrated. Republicans fumed. And while some promised to continue fighting to kill President Obama's signature health law after Thursday's defeat at the Supreme Court, others in the GOP said it was time to try other tactics, at least until they can take back the White House. (Tamari, 6/26)

Republicans have tried to kill the health care law twice at the Supreme Court, only to be rebuffed. They’ve held more than 50 repeal votes, virtually all of which have died in the Senate. They tried to defund the law through the spending process, but the government shut down instead. (Raju and Everett, 6/25)

Republicans stuck by their anti-Obamacare rhetoric Thursday after the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare subsidies — but the party was divided on whether to use a fast-track budget procedure to kill the law they love to hate. Shortly after the court handed down its 6-3 ruling in King v. Burwell, finding that subsidies awarded through federal-run health care exchanges were constitutional, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Republicans were still weighing their next legislative steps — and, notably, did not commit to using the expedited procedure, called reconciliation, to repeal the entire thing. (Bade, 6/25)

Ohio Republicans said Thursday they would keep trying to unravel the Affordable Care Act, even though the Supreme Court rejected their latest legal attack on the health care law. "The law is broken," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester. "We're going to continue our efforts to put the American people back in charge of their own health care." (Shesgreen, 6/25)

U.S. Rep. David Jolly used Thursday's Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act to remind folks he introduced a bill last year to repeal the law individual insurance mandate -- and to proclaim that he will continue to push that legislation that died in committee last year. "I believe the American people should be in control of their own health care coverage decisions, not government," Jolly said in a post on his Facebook page. "Which is why, despite today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling, I am continuing to push legislation (H.R. 143) restoring the freedom of all Americans to decide what health care coverage is right for them and their family." (Marrero, 6/25)

President Barack Obama has had a good week. First, Congress salvaged his trade agenda, setting the stage for passage of a sweeping free-trade agreement. Then, on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court kept his health-care law intact, preserving his signature domestic achievement. (Murray, 6/25)