OBAMA CELEBRATES HEALTHCARE VICTORY

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President Barack Obama is expected to sign landmark healthcare reforms into law today after a victory in Congress that has both re-energised his beleaguered Democratic party and fired up Republican opponents.

A historic 219-212 vote in the House of Representatives on Sunday night has reinvigorated Mr Obama's presidency with just Senate procedures standing in the way of him making good on his campaign promise to overhaul healthcare.

But the partisan rift that has divided the country also deepened following the vote as 11 state attorneys general threatened legal action to block aspects of the bill and conservative activists said they were raising money on the back of it.

After a year of setbacks in which Mr Obama's resolve was questioned, Hillary Clinton, who tried and failed to complete healthcare reform in the 1990s, celebrated the president's hard-fought victory.

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“If you ever doubt the resolve of President Obama to stay with a job, look at what we got done for the US last night when it came to passing quality, affordable healthcare for everyone,” said the Secretary of State, amid cheers in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington.

She drew a parallel between Mr Obama's persistence over healthcare and his foreign policy stance, notably his commitment to Israel's security.

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Democrats are hoping that the passage of the bill will work in their favour in mid-term elections in November even though opinion polls have shown a majority oppose the bill.

Mr Obama will on Thursday begin a series of trips to tout the benefits of the legislation with a rally in Iowa City, Iowa. Democratic party strategists are hoping the concrete benefits of the bill, such as a measure that allows young people to remain on their parents' healthcare plans until the age of 26, will ultimately count in their favour.