Updates on GOP drive to Repeal and Replace. You know what to do. Make those calls.
Here are the details of what is happening. Thank you, Gabe Fleischer (Wake up to Politics):
- Driving the Week After months of coming up short, Republicans are gearing up to start a new push to repeal and replace Obamacare this week. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced new health care legislation last week, with the backing of Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) and other GOP lawmakers. The bill seeks to shift more power to the states to set up their own health care systems, replacing Obamacare's tax credits and Medicaid expansion with an equal block grant to each state.
- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was initially hesitant to back the proposal, saying he would only offer his support if 50 Republican senators (the needed majority, with an assured tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence) were pledged to vote for the bill. However, Politico and other outlets reported on Sunday, McConnell is already talking to senators to gauge support for Graham-Cassidy ahead of a potential floor vote. According to reports, the White House is also preparing to whip votes this week; President Trump said in a statement after the bill was introduced that he "sincerely hope[s] that Senators Graham and Cassidy have found a way to address the Obamacare crisis."
- McConnell leads 52 Republicans in the Senate; 49 supported the party's health care attempt in July, with Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voting "no." None of them have publicly announced support for Graham-Cassidy, which would require support from just one of them plus every senator who voted for the July bill.
- McCain seemed initially supportive of Graham-Cassidy, but said on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that Republicans shouldn't "ram through" a health care bill with solely partisan support, mentioning the alternative effort by Senate HELP Committee chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and ranking member Patty Murray (D-WA). The Alexander-Murray bill could be released in the coming days.
- The latest GOP health care effort seems to feature a renewed urgency, with senators staring down a September 30 deadline; at the end of the month, the Senate's ability to use the "reconciliation" process to fast-track health care legislation expires, meaning repeal of Obamacare would require 60 votes.
Again, you know what to do. Make those calls today.
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September 18, 2017
Addendum.From @RepJoeKennedy Here's what the latest bill does to healthcare across our country. #GrahamCassidy