Republican lawmakers added to their collection of nearly 60 anti-Obamacare bills that have passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

But this one could have at least a slightly different fate than those that have come before it: it could be the first to reach Barack Obama’s desk – and his veto pen.

Obama has said many times he would veto any legislation that seeks to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but opponents continue to hold symbolic votes against the legislation.

The decision to hold another seemingly meaningless vote against Obamacare comes as a more serious threat to the legislation approaches – the supreme court’s pending hearing of the case of King v Burwell.

King v Burwell challenges the administration’s decision to allow people in states that refused to set up their own health insurance marketplaces – forcing the federal government to do it – to receive subsidies to help them buy coverage.

If the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, millions of people in 36 states would immediately lose those subsidies and millions more would lose them in the years that follow.

Economists have also warned that such a ruling would cause a major disruption in the US health insurance market.

Even as Republicans hope for a decision against Obamacare, they are continuing to try to bring it down through legislation.

And now the party is in control of the Senate and House of Representatives for the first time in Obama’s tenure, meaning the Senate could soon follow the House’s lead.

To get the Obamacare repeal bill on Obama’s desk, Republicans are considering a controversial budget procedure known as reconciliation, which was used to pass parts of the original Affordable Care Act legislation.

This tactic would allow the Senate to get rid of portions of the health care law without allowing Democrats the opportunity to filibuster.

And even if this legislation does not pass the House, Republican leadership in that chamber still saw good reason to hold a vote on it: as House Speaker John Boehner told Fox News last week, doing so gave the 47 freshman House Republicans an opportunity to show their constituents that they oppose Obamacare – a position that many took to win their seats in the November 2014 midterm elections.

Two Republican freshmen, however, strayed from party lines and voted against the repeal.

Bruce Poliquin, of Maine, had previously said he would vote against the repeal.

“The congressman feels that if we’re going to replace Obamacare, we need to have something immediately, right behind that, to take its place,” Poliquin’s spokesman, Michael Byerly, told the Bangor Daily News in Maine.

John Katko, of New York, echoed Poliquin’s concerns in a Facebook post after the vote.

“I made a promise that I would only vote for a repeal of Obamacare if that repeal included a replacement.

“Today’s bill failed to include an alternative for healthcare – and I kept my promise by voting against it.”

The one other Republican to vote against the bill, Bob Dold, of Illinois, has voted to repeal or change Obamacare 28 times before.

Dold said he does not, and has never, supported Obamacare, but that none of the numerous House votes against it have had any impact on the law.

“The only way we are ever going to move beyond simply talking about the law’s many flaws and finally deliver solutions to the American people is through bipartisan reforms that can pass both chambers of congress and receive the president’s signature,” Dold said.

“Casting yet another symbolic vote for full repeal of the law, without any replacement legislation, simply distracts us from the work that must be done to drive costs down, restore access to care and make healthcare work for everyone.”