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Senate Republicans will soon run out of time to rely on their slim majority to dismantle the Obama health law. The Senate parliamentarian has determined that rules governing the effort will expire when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, according to independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee. The rules allow Republicans to dismantle President Barack Obama's health care law with just 51 votes, avoiding a filibuster. (9/1)

In a potential death knell for efforts to repeal Obamacare — at least this year — the Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Republicans face a Sept. 30 deadline to kill or overhaul the law with only 50 votes, Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee said Friday. Congress is facing fights in September over boosting the federal debt limit, government funding, defense programs and the FAA, among other issues. Adding another Obamacare repeal battle to that schedule could prove too much for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has all but said he's moving on from health care. (Pradhan and Bresnahan, 9/1)

The move severely limits the amount of time Republicans have to pass a repeal of ObamaCare. Chances for repeal had already plummeted after the Senate failed to pass a bill in July, but some Republicans are still holding out hope. After Sept. 30, Republicans would need 60 votes in the Senate, meaning they would need eight Democrats to vote for a repeal bill, which will not happen. (Sullivan, 9/1)

Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who is ranking member on Senate Budget, announced the parliamentarian’s decision. In a news release, he called the determination “a major victory for the American people and everyone who fought against President Trump’s attempt to take away health care from up to 32 million people.” Sanders added that both parties “need to work together to expand, not cut, health care for millions of Americans who desperately need it.” (Krawzak, 9/1)

The parliamentarian’s new finding doesn’t preclude Republicans in both chambers from seeking to restore the ability to use a 51-vote majority for an Obamacare repeal in the next fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. (Litvan, 9/1)

Experts said parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's ruling that the fiscal 2017 budget reconciliation instruction for healthcare legislation expires on Sept. 30 significantly dims prospects for such legislation this year. The House and Senate approved that instruction in January. "Having a fixed deadline of Sept. 30 would be quite tough even if there was nothing else on Congress' plate," said Sarah Binder, an expert on congressional procedure at George Washington University. "But there doesn't seem to be much of a coalition built for the Cassidy-Graham bill, and Republicans have to get into October without shutting down the government and defaulting on the debt." (Meyer, 9/1)