After the CBO report, Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Dean Heller (R-NV) said that they would vote no on a motion to move the Senate health care bill to a final vote, while Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said that he highly doubts that he would vote yes on moving the bill forward.
Sen. Rand Paul said he would vote against the motion to proceed:
I wont vote to proceed to it unless the bill changes, Sen Rand Paul tells @frankthorp about the Senate healthcare bill
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) June 26, 2017
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Sen. Dean Heller is also a no on moving forward:
Both Dean Heller and Rand Paul have said they won't vote on the motion to proceed to the health bill. McConnell can only lose 1 more.
— Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) June 26, 2017
Sen. Mike Lee is also still a no:
Mike Lee's spokesman tells me: "Lee will not vote to proceed to a bill he can't support."https://t.co/eGe2fSyA09
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) June 26, 2017
Sen. Ron Johnson wasn’t a flat out no, but he was close:
Ron Johnson on the motion to proceed to the GOP health care bill: "I would highly doubt I would support it."
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) June 26, 2017
Voting against moving the bill forward to a final vote is not the same as killing it. If Senators vote against proceeding, it means that the bill can’t go forward to a final vote. The only way to make sure that this legislation does not pass is to defeat it when it comes up for a vote on passage. Republican leadership has made it clear that drop dead date for passage is August 1, but the reason why McConnell wanted the final vote before the 4th of July recess is that he didn’t want his Republicans to return home and get an earful from enraged constituents before they voted.
This bill has gotten away from McConnell, and if he puts it up for a vote, it looks like he is going to lose.
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
