BUDGET/GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will delay the vote on the Republican leadership’s health care bill until after the July 4 recess.
McConnell told GOP senators that he wants to make changes to the bill, get a new Congressional Budget Office score and have a vote after the holiday, two sources told CNN.
McConnell said that President Donald Trump had invited all Republican senators to the White House on Tuesday [6-27-17] afternoon.
‘We’re going to continue discussion in our conference,’ McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill after his meeting with his caucus.
McConnell’s decision does not mean Republicans’ plans for repealing and replacing Obamacare are dead, but it highlights the challenge facing the GOP leadership as they try to bridge the divide between conservatives and moderates in the party. While the additional time could allow for more negotiations to bring more lawmakers on board, it also means members of Congress could face pressure from constituents when they go home for recess with the future of health care hanging in limbo.
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.”
-Manu Raju, Phil Mattingly, and Ashley Killough, “McConnell to delay the vote on health care bill until after July 4 recess,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 27, 2017 02:55pm