On Monday US lawmakers announced the launch of a bipartisan spending bill which many in the country are calling a rare agreement. There’s a reason an agreement between the Democrats and Republicans are considered rare. You just have to look at the jostle over the healthcare bill to prove it.
Years ago the Obama administration put in place the Affordable Healthcare Act. The Democrats were house majorities by then. Since most of them were in agreement, the bill was passed into law, and now the GOP is struggling to do the same.
Last week the healthcare repeal bill proposed by Republicans was put on hold because the party’s leadership felt that they did not have the prerequisite number of votes to get the bill through the House. On Monday some of these leaders hinted at the possibility of a possible vote this week.
GOP is ready for the Healthcare vote…
The American Health Care Act, as the proposed bill is called, is almost ready for a vote according to members of the House who said that whip counts done on Monday favor the GOP. Several lawmakers, in fact, expressed their belief in a possible vote later this week.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) stated that the party would try to get the proposed law on the floor this week because ‘it has the votes’. Similarly, Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) remarked that he was confident the bill could and would be called to a vote and that it will pass in the House. “I’m fairly confident about it,” Walker reiterated.
The statements made by the two lawmakers were backed up by statements from Vice President Mike Pence and the White House. Also, the move made by Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah in commuting to Washington lent weight to the allegations that the Republicans were well on their way to getting the prerequisite ‘yes’ votes to pass the bill.
…or is it?
As Chaffetz and other conservative Republicans continue advocating for the AHCA, moderate members of the GOP are defecting. According to numbers released after the whip polls, twenty moderates have already decided on a ‘no’ vote while about twelve remain undecided. If three of the dozen who remain in the middle go on to vote no, the GOP repeal bill will not replace Obamacare.
The contentious issues in the proposed bill have also shifted major alliances. Rep. Billy Long (R-Missouri), a long-time supporter of the trump administration, publicly declared his intention on Monday to vote ‘no’ on the repeal proposal. He said that the bill would ‘leave many of those with pre-existing conditions without cover.’ Speaker Paul Ryan and other GO leaders stated that this is not the case, but Long remain unmoved.
President Trump’s claim that the final draft of the bill would cover such individuals has also raised questions about the divisions within the party. Many house representatives are skeptical about that promise, while others propose passing the bill in the House and letting the Senate take care of such concessions.
