Three Republicans have announced they will block a motion to proceed on a bill to repeal most of Obamacare, dooming a last-minute plan by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to try to move ahead on efforts to replace the troubled healthcare law.
Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have all declared they will not vote in favor of a bill that would repeal most of Obamacare after two years.
With those “no” votes, Republicans only have 49 votes in favor of the bill at most, meaning they can’t pass it even under the reconciliation process, which only requires them to find 50 votes.
McConnell, R-Ky., said Monday night he planned to move such a measure to the floor because a broader deal fell apart that would have both repealed Obamacare and replaced it in one bill.
Collins, Murkowski, and Capito were among the moderate Republicans holding up the repeal and replace legislation. They said the proposal would harm those using Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion by phasing out growth of the program. Murkowski said in a statement that the Senate should work on a bipartisan solution to Obamacare.
“As I stated earlier this year, I cannot vote to proceed to repeal the [Affordable Care Act] without reform that allows people the choice they want, the affordability they need and the quality of care they deserve,” she said.
McConnell said weeks ago that if the Senate health bill fails then he would have to work with Democrats to stabilize Obamacare’s exchanges.
The sudden rejection of repeal and delay of Obamacare is the second setback in a day for GOP leadership after support collapsed for a health bill late Monday night.
The health bill would have partially repealed parts of Obamacare and immediately replaced them, but it failed to garner enough support from conservatives as well as centrists.
On late Monday night, Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Mike Lee, R-Utah., said they would vote against the health bill. They joined two other senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, in opposition.
McConnell and Trump quickly pivoted towards taking up a 2015 bill that gutted Obamacare by repealing the law’s taxes and mandates but left insurer regulations in place.
McConnell would take up a House health bill that passed the chamber in May, and if it passed the procedural motion to start debate, then he would have stripped out that bill and replaced it with the 2015 bill through an amendment.
Now that Plan B also doesn’t have the votes to succeed, Republicans were meeting at a lunch this afternoon to discuss next steps on healthcare.
