House Republicans just won a big victory in a battle with Obama

Thomson Reuters

A U.S. judge on Thursday ruled in favor of congressional Republicans who challenged the Obama administration's implementation of President Barack Obama's healthcare law.

Washington-based U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, appointed by Republican former President George W. Bush, ruled that the administration, in implementing the law known as Obamacare, cannot spend funds that Congress did not appropriate. The ruling will not have an immediate effect on the 2010 law because the judge stayed the ruling pending appeal. 

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)