WASHINGTON (AP) — For Republicans, it's an irresistible trifecta: A bill that gives them an election-season chance to say they're fighting to protect jobs and cut taxes, even as it erodes financing for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul they despise.

So though it is destined to die in the Democratic-run Senate, GOP leaders plan to push legislation through the House this week to repeal an excise tax on the makers of medical devices sold in the U.S. The tax, which takes effect next January, applies to everything from replacement joints to imaging equipment but exempts consumer products like eyeglasses and bandages.

Democrats say the growing medical device industry can afford the 2.3 percent tax. They describe the tax as part of the price device manufacturers and other providers agreed to pay in exchange for the tens of millions of new customers they will get through the sweeping 2010 health care law's expansion of health insurance coverage.