(CNN) – Ten states plan to file a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new health care reform bill, Florida's attorney general announced Monday.
Bill McCollum, the Republican attorney general under fellow Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, told a news conference that the lawsuit - joined by his counterparts in Alabama, Texas, South Carolina, Utah, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Washington state, North Dakota and South Dakota - would be filed once President Barack Obama signs the health care bill into law.
All of the attorneys general in the 10 states mentioned by McCollum are Republican, but McCollum said the lawsuit would be about the law and not politics.
Also Monday, Virginia's Republican attorney general said his state would file a lawsuit challenging the health care bill. It was unclear if Virginia would join the other states or proceed on its own.
Washington (CNN) – A leading House Democrat told reporters Monday that Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, owes the entire House of Representatives an apology for his outburst during Sunday night's health care reform debate.
Related: I made 'baby killer' comment, Neugebauer says
House Democratic Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina said Neugebauer's apology to Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, was inadequate. "He needs to go the well. He disrupted the decorum of the House of Representatives…It was wrong," Clyburn said after the health care reform bill's signing ceremony in the Capitol.
But Clyburn's colleague, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland was content to move past the controversy over Neugebauer's comment. "He's apologized. He shouldn't have done it. It was inappropriate. He's apologized. I don't think further action is needed."
Clyburn also slammed Republicans for cheering on a protester who yelled out in the House chamber earlier in the day. The individual was removed from the chamber for disrupting the floor debate by yelling out opposition to the health care reform bill. Republicans on the floor could be heard cheering as the U.S. Capitol Police took the person out.
Washington (CNN) – A Texas Republican acknowledged on Monday that he was the person who yelled "baby killer" during Sunday's House debate on health care reform.
Related: Neugebauer should apologize to the House, Dem says
Rep. Randy Neugebauer said he shouted out "'it's a baby killer' in reference to the agreement reached by the Democratic leadership" on compromise language that emphasized federal funds would not be used to pay for abortions.
Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak was on the House floor talking about the issue at the time of Neugebauer's outburst. Stupak was the leader of a group of anti-abortion rights Democrats who refused to back health care reform unless their concerns were addressed.
In a statement released by his office, Neugerbauer said that his comments have been misconstrued.
Washington (CNN) - The abortion issue nearly derailed House Democrats from passing the landmark health care reform bill Sunday night.
Political observers note that if it weren't for anti-abortion Democrats switching their votes to yes - after working with President Obama and House Democrats - the reform bill wouldn't have passed. It was adopted in a narrow 219-212 vote.
Obama threw the group a lifeline in an effort to make sure he had their votes, announcing he would issue an executive order to ensure that existing limits on federal funding of abortion remain in place.
The controversial issue provided an electrifying debate on the House floor as Republicans and Democrats clashed over the deal.
Washington (CNN) - The Democratic National Committee struck back at Mitt Romney on Monday after the Republican issued a blistering response to the health care bill passed by Democrats in Congress.
Romney accused President Obama of pushing the bill through with hardball political tactics - a strategy, Romney said, that violated the president's "oath to the nation" to usher in a new era of bipartisanship. Romney said the plan should be repealed.
The DNC eagerly shot back, accusing Romney of "blatant hypocrisy" for opposing a plan that bears a strong resemblance to the one he implemented as governor of Massachusetts. Both pieces of legislation, for instance, mandate that individuals purchase insurance and establish exchanges in which people can purchase affordable insurance plans.
"We're sure that it must be difficult to endure all the comparisons of the similarities between your signature health care plan and the bill passed last night when you are trying to appear to be the angriest of the angry far right wing in the Republican Party, but it doesn't cover up the blatant hypocrisy of lashing out against policy that you thought well enough of to campaign for and sign into law," said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan.
In an e-mail to reporters, Sevugan provided a point by point comparison of "ObamaCare" and "RomneyCare" to highlight the similarities between the two plans, points Romney will likely have to explain in a Republican primary is he decides to seek the White House again in 2012.
Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom responded to the DNC offensive.
"Mitt Romney's plan did not include higher taxes, or Medicare cuts, or insurance price controls, and it was designed for Massachusetts and not the entire country," he told CNN in an e-mail. "To say it's exactly like ObamaCare is just another evasion and half-truth from the Democrats."
Washington (CNN) – An anti-abortion rights organization is withdrawing an award it planned to present Rep. Bart Stupak, after the Michigan Democrat announced Sunday he would support health care reform legislation.
The Susan B. Anthony List had chosen Stupak to receive the “Defender of Life” award at the “Campaign for Life Gala” Wednesday here in the nation’s capital. Stupak and several Democrats said that they would vote for the health care bill after President Obama assured them that no federal funding would be allowed to pay for abortion. Obama released an executive order that emphasized abortions would not be paid for with federal dollars.
“By accepting this deal from the most pro-abortion President in American history, Stupak has not only failed to stand strong for unborn children, but also for his constituents and pro-life voters across the country,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement shortly before the House was set to vote on the controversial bill.
Dannenfelser charged that the executive order was not enough.
"The executive order on abortion funding does absolutely nothing to fix the problems presented by the health care reform bill that the House will vote on this evening,” she said. “The very idea should offend all pro-life Members of Congress. An executive order can be rescinded at any time at the President's whim, and the courts could and have a history of trumping executive orders. Most importantly, pro-abortion Representatives have admitted the executive order is meaningless."
Updated: 11:28 p.m.: Rep. Stupak spoke with CNN Sunday night about the decision of the Susan B. Anthony List. "I didn't seek the award," Stupak told CNN, "I stood on my principle. I don't need an award."
–CNN Producer Lesa Jansen contributed to this report.
Washington (CNN) –- As the House was debating the controversial health care bill Sunday, Vicki Kennedy visited Arlington National Cemetery where she said she "spent some time" with her husband. Arlington is the final resting place for Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who made health care reform his passion and lifelong goal.
"I thought yesterday was an important day to be there, because I had hope and confidence and certainly, you know, wish that the bill would pass," she said in an exclusive interview with CNN's John King.
The full interview appears on CNN's new political program "John King, USA," which debuts Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
Watch and read the full story on the John King, USA blog
Washington (CNN) - A majority of Americans have a dim view of the sweeping health care bill passed by the House, saying it gives Washington too much clout and won't do much to reduce their own health care costs or federal deficits, according to a new poll released Monday.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found that 59 percent of those surveyed opposed the bill, and 39 percent favored it. All of the interviews were conducted before the House voted Sunday night, but the contents of the bill were widely known.
In addition, 56 percent said the bill gives the government too much involvement in health care; 28 percent said it gives the government the proper role and 16 percent said it leaves Washington with an inadequate role.
On the question of costs, 62 percent said the bill increases the amount of money they personally spend on health care; 21 percent said their costs would remain the same and 16 percent said they would decrease.
Listen: CNN Radio's John Lisk and CNN Political Editor Mark Preston discuss health care reform
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The poll's results about the bill's fiscal impact were particularly stark: 70 percent of respondents said they believed deficits would go up because of the bill; 17 percent felt they would stay the same and 12 percent said they would go down.
Washington (CNN) – Sen. John McCain said Monday he is looking forward to a "very nice reunion" with his former presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, when she campaigns alongside him later this week in Arizona.
Palin will join McCain at two rallies at the end of the week in Tucson and Phoenix, their first appearance together in public since the 2008 presidential race. Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth is challenging McCain in the Republican primary, a race McCain said he is not taking for granted.
McCain told C-SPAN his campaign has received an "overwhelming response of people that want to come to the rallies."
"Sarah did galvanize our party after she agreed to be my running mate, and the speech she gave at the convention," McCain said. "I am sure she will do the same thing when she comes to Arizona."
He added: "It will be a very nice reunion, to have the chance to spend some time with her, and I am very grateful that she would come to Arizona."
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