Republicans are facing increasing bipartisan pressure to reveal the details of their Obamacare repeal and replace bill, which may be ready for House committee markup next week.
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Republicans are facing increasing pressure to make details of 'Obamacare Lite' public
Republicans are facing increasing bipartisan pressure to reveal the details of their Obamacare repeal and replace bill.
Rand Paul
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul is leading the fight to make the bill public. On Thursday, Paul, tailed by a pack of reporters, led a scavenger hunt through the Capitol for the bill, which is being kept in a "secure location."
A draft of the bill, leaked to Politico last week, was met with strong criticism from a coalition of House and Senate Republicans, who argued it did not go far enough in repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Paul called the draft bill "Obamacare Lite" and Rep. Mark Meadows tweeted last week, "
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"2 yrs ago, the GOP Congress voted to repeal Obamacare. That 2015 repeal language should be the floor, the bare minimum," Cruz tweeted last week.
The House committee distanced itself from the leaked draft, which it said was outdated and no longer "viable."
While the GOP only needs a simple 51-vote majority to pass the Senate, without Paul, Cruz, and Lee, the party would not have enough votes to pass the legislation.
In the days leading up to the inauguration, Trump promised a swift repeal and replace, but has recently indicated the process will be slower.
"Nobody knew that healthcare would be this complicated," Trump told a meeting of governors last week.
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During Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, he laid out a few basic principles of a future law, including
Bob Bryan contributed to this story.
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