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Here鈥檚 a little secret about the conservative GOP push to defund Obamacare: Even if Republicans who oppose the president鈥檚 signature聽health-reform law stand fast and shut down the government over the issue, Obamacare will keep on chugging along.

That鈥檚 right. For the most part, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is armored against attacks on its annual appropriations. So, in that sense, a government shutdown would be the equivalent of taking a swing at Obamacare but hitting the Department of Agriculture instead.

Look, don鈥檛 get mad at us 鈥� these are the conclusions of the Congressional Research Service, which in response to a request from Sen. Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma.

鈥淚t appears that substantial ACA implementation might continue during a lapse in annual appropriations that resulted in a temporary government shutdown,鈥� says CRS.

Let鈥檚 look at the shutdown state-of-play before going further, shall we?

The House on Friday passed a government spending bill that would strip money from Mr. Obama鈥檚 health law. Conservatives committed to repealing the law hailed the move as the first step toward its demise.

鈥淒efunding is clearly happening today on a spending measure that defunds it in perpetuity,鈥� said Rep. Tom Graves (R) of Georgia.

And the legislation itself is pretty clear. 鈥淣o federal funds shall be made available to carry out any provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,鈥� .

But here鈥檚 the thing: That language applies only if the bill becomes law. For that to happen, the Senate has to pass it, and Obama has to sign it. The chances of that happening are zero.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid has pronounced it 鈥渄ead鈥� in his chamber, and even firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz (R) of Texas has said that Senator Reid probably has the votes to back that up. Plus, would Obama sign a bill that guts his signature domestic achievement? That isn鈥檛 going to happen. Obama has already promised he would veto it, if it somehow found its way to his desk.

That leads us to a possible shutdown. Will the House refuse to pass a continuing resolution without the defund Obamacare language? If that happens, many government activities would grind to a halt after Oct. 1. However, implementation of Obamacare would not be one of them.

There are two reasons this is so, according to CRS. The first is that the federal government has multiple pots of money on which to draw when it comes to ACA implementation.

A shutdown would stop government activities that rely on the discretionary funds provided by annual appropriations. But ACA implementation right now is paid for by multiple-year and mandatory spending. That kind of stuff rolls on, pretty much no matter what.

鈥淚n the event of a temporary lapse in discretionary appropriations that results in a government shutdown, it seems likely that the Administration will continue to rely on alternative sources of funding to support ACA implementation activities,鈥� writes CRS.

In addition, projected health insurance subsidies for many lower-income Americans aren鈥檛 payments, but tax credits. Those aren鈥檛 appropriations at all. And even if the government shuts down, the IRS could continue to process these credits.

That brings us to the second reason Obamacare would roll on: Government agencies have some leeway to structure their activities. IRS employees could still take applications from Americans eligible for subsidies, 鈥渆ven if the salaries of the federal employees who are making those determinations have lapsed," according to CRS.

Given that a new defunding Obamacare provision is not going to pass, and a government shutdown won鈥檛 shut down Obamacare enrollment, many Republicans in Washington believe the defund effort is all hat and no cattle.

It is not that these members of the GOP support the health-care law. Far from it. It is that they do not see a positive outcome from the current situation.

鈥淚t just seems to me that what鈥檚 happened unfortunately is that American expectations on Republicans and what they can do have been raised to a level that鈥檚 beyond delivery,鈥� .