Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) caved to the far right and announced that he would bring to the floor a stand alone Obamacare repeal bill that will take healthcare away from 32 million Americans.
Video:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: I regret that repealing and replacing Obamacare “will not be successful†https://t.co/e1urk7BCDF
— Deena Zeina Zaru (@Deena_CNN) July 18, 2017
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McConnell said, “We will now try a different way to bring the American people relief from Obamacare. I think we owe them at least that much. In the coming days, the Senate will take up and vote on a repeal of Obamacare combined with a stable two year transition period as we work towards patient centered healthcare. A majority of the Senate voted to pass the same repeal legislation back in 2015. President Obama vetoed it then. President Trump will sign it now.”
The only reason why Senate Republicans voted for the repeal in 2015 was that they knew that Obama would veto it. The 2015 vote was a show vote, pure and simple.
Senate Majority Whip Sen. John Cornyn of Texas doesn’t even know if Republicans have the 50 votes that they need to begin debate on the stand alone repeal bill:
.@JohnCornyn on whether Senate Republicans have the 50 votes to even begin the debate on Obamacare repeal: "We will find out."
— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) July 18, 2017
A stand alone repeal bill would take health care away from 32 million Americans. It is even worse than repeal and replace. If Republicans couldn’t get 50 votes for their bill that took coverage away from 22 million people, they aren’t going to get 50 votes for a bill that takes coverage away from 32 million people.
This effort will fail, and Republicans will have to negotiate a bipartisan bill with Democrats. That is where this is going to end.
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
