Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday formally set an ambitious schedule for his conference to repeal and replace ObamaCare, promising his members will get draft legislation on Thursday with a floor vote next week.
McConnell says Republicans, who have held multiple meetings about healthcare reform every week since early May, have debated the issue long enough.
“I expect to have a discussion draft on Thursday and we will go to the bill obviously once we get a CBO score, likely next week,” McConnell told reporters, referring to a cost projection and analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.
In putting his foot on the gas pedal, McConnell is pressuring centrists and conservatives alike to rally around ObamaCare repeal, a top priority for President Trump that congressional Republicans have been promising to deliver for years.
McConnell seems to have some momentum, though he can only afford two defections and lawmakers across his conference are nervous about the vote.
One source familiar with the private deliberations of moderate Republicans agonizing over whether to support the bill said the legislation hasn’t improved over the past two weeks of talks and, if anything, has gotten somewhat worse.
More:
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/338700-gop-hits-the-gas-on-obamacare-repeal
