Vote nixed on DOA health bill; Trump fumes
THE GOP HAS declared its latest health care bill dead.
Senate Republicans announced Tuesday they would not hold an expected vote on the bill, indefinitely delaying their much-hyped efforts to repeal Obamacare.
The Senate planned to vote this week on the Graham-Cassidy bill, the latest in a long line of legislation attempting to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
But the bill seemed destined to die after several Republican senators, including John McCain of Arizona and Ted Cruz of Texas, announced they had no intention of voting for it. The Congressional Budget Office delivered a final nail in the coffin Monday night by estimating that it would cause “millions” of people to lose coverage.
“Through events that are under our control and not under our control, we don’t have the votes,” said the bill’s lead author, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. “Am I disappointed? Absolutely.”
This bill was the GOP’s last chance to easily pass health care reform before it blows a deadline that will further complicate any efforts to take down Obamacare.
A congressional window that allowed the Senate to pass bills with a simple majority ends Sept. 30. After that, the Senate will need 60 votes to advance any bill. This will remain the rule unless the Senate manages to pass another short-term extension on its majority rule, and there are no immediate plans to do so.
Trump lashed out as his own party Tuesday, blaming “certain so-called Republicans.”
“At some point, there will be a repeal and replace,” he told reporters at the White House.
Republicans have campaigned against Obamacare for seven years, and President Trump ran on a promise to “quickly” repeal and replace it if elected, although he never detailed any alternative.
After the House passed a version of a repeal bill in May, the Senate cycled through a series of other bills proposing different ways to end, fix or slim down Obamacare.
Trump threatened the GOP senators who opposed the bills and waged a public war against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whom he blamed for the failed efforts.
Republicans, however, couldn’t agree on an approach.
Graham-Cassidy called for Obamacare to be broken down into block grants that would be distributed to states.
Some of the dissenting senators said they were open to such a proposal, but did not want to push the bill through without thorough hearings on its impact.
McConnell said they would move on.
“We haven’t given up on changing the American health care system. We are not going to be able to do that this week, but it still lies ahead of us,” he said. “We do think it’s time to turn to our twin priority, reforming the tax code.”
Trump is expected to release some details of his tax proposal Wednesday.