Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment to repeal Obamacare that Mitch McConnell attached to the transportation bill.
The final vote was 49-43, which was 11 votes short of 60 needed for passage.
The McConnell amendment was overshadowed by the looming procedural move that was going to be pulled by Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee to try to use the nuclear option to repeal Obamacare with 51 votes. Senate Republicans like Orrin Hatch argued against the move that Cruz and Lee tried to pull by claiming that if they were successful, Senate leaders would lose control of the calendar and agenda. In other words, if Cruz and Lee were successful, the Senate would become the House.
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The McConnell amendment was a show vote that was designed to appease those Senate Republicans who outraged over the vote to save the Ex-Im Bank. The procedural move by Cruz and Lee to try to repeal Obamacare with 51 votes is unlikely to be successful.
The only thing that Mitch McConnell has accomplished today is to bring the raging civil war within the Senate Majority out into the open.
The Republican presidential candidates in the Senate all voted for the repeal of the ACA, but McConnell’s amendment to repeal the ACA was dead before the first vote was cast. Democrats are never going to support anything that repeals Obamacare.
The point is that Republicans are determined to take away affordable healthcare from millions of Americans. They don’t care how well the law works, or how many people that it helps. Republicans are going to take away access to health insurance to millions.
Mitch McConnell has been defeated again and is taking steps by the day to become as bad of a leader as Speaker of the House John Boehner.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
