After spending a month deliberating over a response to the House’s passage of a bill to repeal the law, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is accelerating the party’s stagnant work as a jam-packed fall agenda confronts congressional leaders and President Donald Trump. Republican leaders want resolution to the tumultuous Obamacare repeal debate by the Fourth of July recess, Republican sources said, to ensure that the whole year isn’t consumed by health care and that the GOP leaves room to consider tax reform.
It’s a gut-check situation for Republicans, who are about to be confronted with tough choices that may result in millions fewer people with insurance coverage as a condition for cutting taxes and lowering some people’s premiums.
“I don’t think this gets better over time,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of leadership. “So my personal view is we’ve got until now and the Fourth of July to decide if the votes are there or not. And I hope they are.”
Senate staff spent last week and the weekend writing the bill but left some key decisions blank.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member