As many Republicans in the U.S. Senate move quickly and secretly to hold a vote next week on their disastrous legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, enough GOP senators are reportedly opposed to such a move, putting the bill at risk of being defeated in the Republican-controlled chamber.
According to The Hill, at least three GOP senators – enough to thwart the repeal legislation in the Senate – are opposed to holding a vote next week and are urging their Republican colleagues to give them “more time.”
Sen. Rand Paul, as the report notes, isn’t just opposed to the hasty and closed-door process being used by Republicans, but he’s introducing legislation “requiring that any bills or amendments be filed for at least one day for every 20 pages before they can be brought up on the floor.”
“Legislation is too often shoved through Congress without proper hearings, amendments, or debate, as the secrecy surrounding the Senate’s health care bill and the pressure to vote for it with little time to fully evaluate the proposal once again remind us,” the Kentucky senator said in a statement, the reported noted.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Other Republicans also spoke out against the fast-moving legislation:
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said on Wednesday that he “can’t imagine” voting on a Republican ObamaCare repeal bill next week.
“What I’ve told leadership very clearly is I’m going to need time, and my constituents are going to need time to evaluate exactly how this is going to affect them, so I personally think that holding a vote on this next week would definitely be rushed,†Johnson said on CNN.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Ky.) also posted a video to Facebook saying the GOP bill should have been released “weeks ago” if it was going to be voted on next week.
“Even though I’ve been a member of this working group among Senate Republicans assigned to help narrow some of the focus of this, I haven’t seen the bill,” Lee said on Tuesday.
The concern among members of the president’s own party come as the Senate prepares to publicly release the Senate legislation on Thursday, which White House spokesman Sean Spicer admitted on Wednesday the president hasn’t even seen yet.
But ahead of the bill’s release and next week’s potential vote, it’s clear some GOP senators want nothing to do with it – and that spells big trouble for pro-repeal Republicans in the chamber.
With a slim margin for error and Republicans already backing away, Trumpcare may be on its deathbed before a single vote is cast in the U.S. Senate.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
