The Senate will delay a procedural vote to begin debate on the Republican Health Care bill until after the July Fourth recess, CNN reports.
Senate Majority Leader McConnel had hoped to open debate on the bill prior to the holiday.
Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office (whose opinion we’ve thoroughly discussed previously) scored the bill, leaving some lawmakers hesitant.
Sens. Collins, Paul, Heller, Lee, and Johnson have said they’ll vote “no” in a procedural vote that would allow debate on the legislation unless certain changes were made. Sen. Cruz is open to negotiations on the bill but has expressed displeasure with the legislation’s current form.
CNN reports:
A senior Senate Republican aide told CNN that the plan for the moment is to hammer out a compromise bill by the end of this week, give members the full week of recess to digest and then vote on it when they get back.”We know what everyone needs,” the aide said. “Now we just need to make it work.”The news followed a bustling morning in the Capitol, where Republican leaders, along with Pence, were meeting behind closed doors with the bill’s opponents, as a number of senators came out against voting for a procedural step to advance their plans to repeal and replace Obamacare.
As we discussed with the House version of the AHCA, delaying discussion on a health care overhaul isn’t necessarily bad. Substantive changes to the health insurance market is certainly not a discussion that should be rushed. Having said that, if Senate Republicans are having difficulty gaining enough support to debate the bill, it’s hard to see how they’ll have the support for its passage.
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