GOP divisions threaten to block health care action
Trump’s presidency, and seven years after the Affordable Care Act passed a Democratic-controlled Congress with Barack Obama in the White House.
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin sought to put a positive face on the divisions.
“I feel at the end of the day when we get everything done and right, we’re going to be unified,” he said.
For now, most evidence is to the contrary.
After a recess week filled with raucous town hall meetings, lawmakers’ return to the Capitol this week immediately put deep divisions on display.
And three key senators — Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas — added their voices in opposition, too, announc- ing that they will resist “Obamacare Lite” and “accept nothing less than full repeal of Obamacare.”
“I think we have the votes now to tell the leadership that this is what we want to do,” Paul said on a conference call with House conservative leaders Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky summoned Republicans to a meeting Wednesday afternoon to hash things out.
“The goal is for the administration, the House and the Senate to be in the same place,” he said.
Health care is far from the only issue dividing Republicans. Plans to overhaul the tax code are in limbo, and senior lawmakers are busy throwing cold water on Trump’s budget proposal, which was made public in broad outlines on Monday.
Asked Tuesday whether the Senate could pass a budget that slashes the State Department budget by a third as Trump envisions, McConnell replied shortly: “Probably not.”
GOP Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, said the budget as presented could not possibly pass the House, either.
“No, no. There’s a lot of members that have a lot of interest in a lot of these programs,” Simpson said. “There’s more to our government than just defense.”