Afternoon Round Up: "Legislative Train Wreck" Edition
Another day, another set of headlines about the GOP in disarray and stalling their own agenda, from TrumpCare to a budget to a range of issues…
Wall Street Journal: Senate Republicans Scramble to Rework Health Bill
“Senate Republican leaders scrambled Wednesday to rework by week’s end their plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, but GOP senators remained mired in disputes over key policy planks of the bill.”
“In a long and contentious closed-door luncheon Wednesday, roughly 15 to 20 GOP senators aired competing ideas over how to improve the bill, Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) said after the session. ‘We’ve got a long ways to go,’ added Mr. Paul, another opponent of the bill.”
“‘It’s going to be very difficult,’ said Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine), one of nine Senate Republicans who publicly oppose the bill.”
Washington Post: How the push for a Senate health-care vote fell apart amid GOP tensions
“Instead of moving happily toward passage of the party’s rallying cry, Republicans are frozen and unsure of the political cost of passing the Senate bill — especially with swing voters who in many states have come to rely on aspects of Obamacare and its expansion of Medicaid.”
“‘It’s sad, in a way,’ Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a conservative critic of the bill, said in an interview Wednesday. ‘We control all three branches and yet we’re not interested or able to do what we’ve pledged…’”
Politico: Republicans frustrated as their to-do list grows
“Five months into Donald Trump’s presidency, Hill Republicans are still struggling to make good on a host of their campaign promises because they’re warring with each other over the policy specifics.”
“Asked Wednesday for his sense of the Republican agenda, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said bluntly: ‘I don’t know what it is.’ He ticked off the debt limit and government funding deadline as other hurdles to overcome in the coming months.”
“‘We have all of these issues sitting out there that we have no schedule for being resolved,’ McCain said.”
Politico: Divided GOP undermines Black’s grand budget plans
“…Meanwhile, Black’s conservative budget panel members are increasingly frustrated with the stalemate and worry they’re getting steamrolled. Their anger is targeted not at Black… but at GOP leaders they feel aren’t defending Black’s ideas and their panel’s jurisdiction.”
“Another panel member was more blunt while speaking anonymously, calling the back and forth a game of ‘political chicken.’”
“‘She ought to say: Dammit, this is your f—-ing number,’ the lawmaker said. ‘Do you want the committee to work the committee’s will and do regular order? Or do you want to dictate the process? You can’t have it both ways.’”
The Hill: GOP infighting erupts over healthcare bill
“GOP leaders say they want to have an agreement on changes to the legislation by Friday, but senators said they made virtually no progress at a lunch meeting on Wednesday. In fact, the two sides appeared to grow further apart.”
“When asked about the prospects of getting a new bill by Friday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) joked to reporters, ‘And pigs could fly!’”
“A variety of Republican senators cycled in and out of McConnell’s Capitol office Wednesday as he scrambled to keep the legislation from collapsing.”
The Hill: Unresolved issues, very little time for Senate GOP
“The Senate will return to Washington next month facing a breakneck schedule with a slew of unresolved issues, including healthcare, defense and the budget.”
“But the move adds another piece of legislation to what was already expected to be a jam-packed laundry list and a tight floor schedule.”
“The potential legislative train wreck is the latest sign of a GOP agenda that is months behind schedule as Republicans struggle to score legislative victories despite controlling Congress and the White House for the first time in more than a decade.”
Roll Call: Senate Health Care Discussions Continue as Agenda Stalls
“Senate Republicans, in the aftermath of a major setback Tuesday, are weighing a swath of changes to legislation to overhaul the U.S. health insurance system, as the rest of their agenda piles up and deadlines near.”
‘’I don’t know what it is,’ Arizona Sen. John McCain said. ‘We have all these issues sitting out there, but we don’t have [any] schedule.’”