House votes to delay "Obamacare" In a rare weekend session at the Capitol, the House of Representatives works into the night in Washington, to avoid a government shutdown over a health care bill. THE US House of Representatives approved a controversial Republican measure that avoids a looming government shutdown but delays President Barack Obama's health care law for one year. The bill assures a stalemate with the Senate, whose Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would not pass legislation that defunded or delayed so-called "Obamacare," and brings the federal government dramatically closer to its first shutdown in 17 years. The White House also insisted the president would veto the bill if it reaches his desk. A divided House held hours of raucous debate during a rare Saturday session, when legislators often pointed blame at one another for a likely shutdown. The measure, which now heads back to the Senate, is comprised of two amendments: a one-year delay of Obamacare's implementation, notably the "individual mandate" requiring US residents to have health insurance by January 1 or pay a fine; and repeal of a medical device tax. It also funds government at current levels until December 15, giving legislators time to thrash out a broader budget agreement. The House action comes less than 48 hours before the end of the fiscal year on Monday night, after which federal agencies will shut their doors if no funding is in place. House Speaker John Boehner inserted the controversial text after being pressured by the party's die-hard conservatives to use the stopgap spending measure to assail Obamacare. Republican congressman Scott Rigell encapsulated the dilemma facing the two chambers of congress as the shutdown looms. "House and Senate like two locomotives barrelling toward one another ... in slow motion," he posted on Twitter. Earlier Saturday, Reid dismissed Boehner's gambit as a "pointless" manoeuvre that would only lead to shutdown. "After weeks of futile political games from Republicans, we are still at square one," he said in a statement. The House also passed a measure that would fund US military personnel in the event of a government work stop.