{"articles":[{"id":321,"title":"GOP Fails to Get Votes for Health Care Plan","html_content":"

by Causes | 3.20.17

The House was expected to cast a vote on the American Health Care Act, which would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) today, but after four hours of debate it became clear that House Republicans lacked the votes to pass the bill and it was pulled from the floor. This is a developing story, and you can keep track of the major events of the day below.

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4:45pm ET: President Donald Trump said that efforts to pass the AHCA were \"very close\" but that in part due to a lack of Democratic support, the bill wouldn't have passed and the vote needed to be postponed. He reiterated an oft-repeated point of his that \"Obamacare will explode, it will have a very bad year\" in terms of rising premiums and insurers withdrawing from exchanges, leaving consumers with fewer plans to choose from.

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He reminded Democrats that Obamacare is their bill and they bear responsibility for its failings, and that unless there's enough support to pass a reform bill \"there's not much you can do.\" But Trump sounded optimistic that despite the short-term pain the continued presence of Obamacare may cause, it will ultimately lead to enough support for \"a better bill\" to overhaul the nation's healthcare system that a bipartisan bill will be ideal.

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Trump said that the focus will now turn to tax reform, and praised Speaker Ryan's efforts to manage the interests of the factions within the House GOP. He said that while he's disappointed, he refused to speak poorly of the Republican lawmakers who withheld their support of the AHCA.

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4:10pm ET: Speaker Ryan said at his news conference today was evidence of the \"growing pains\" that Republicans have experienced since the party won control of the White House and retained majorities in Congress during the 2016 election. He said that the House GOP came \"really close\" but \"didn't quite get consensus\" and as a result that it would be wise to pull the bill.

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He emphasized that Obamacare is still \"fundamentally flawed\" and that it will remain the law of the land for the forseeable future despite its unsustainability. Ryan suggested that passing the bill \"was actually doing the Democrats a favor\" by preventing its problems from becoming worse in the months and years to come.

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Ryan added that while House Republicans are \"let down\" by today's events, there are other priorities that have broader consensus that will now get more attention, including tax reform and securing the border.

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3:30pm ET: The House concluded its debate and recessed subject to the call of the chair (until House leadership calls for the chamber to reconvene). House Republicans are scheduled to hold a closed door meeting, with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) scheduled to hold a press conference at 4pm ET.

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Robert Costa, a reporter for the Washington Post, tweeted that he'd received a call from President Donald Trump who informed him that the White House had called upon House Republicans to postpone the vote once again.

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President Trump just called me. Still on phone.
\"We just pulled it,\" he tells me.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) March 24, 2017\n

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11:20am ET: The House began its four hours of debate on the AHCA. The chair (Republicans) and ranking members (Democrats) from the committees that worked on the bill — Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce, and Budget — controlled the debate and took turns allowing their members to express their views on the AHCA on the floor in segments lasting less than two minutes.

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A recurring theme emerged as the top Democrats from the committee would remind their GOP colleagues about how many of their constituents are expected to lose coverage under the bill as control of the floor was passed back and forth across the aisle. Republicans retorted by reminding Democrats about how many residents of their home state had sought exemptions from Obamacare's mandates because coverage became unaffordable.

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11:05am ET: The House paused its work on the AHCA to vote on a bill requiring the Dept. of Homeland Security to take steps aimed at innovating its acquisition policies, which passed unanimously 424-0.

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9:15am ET: The House began one hour of debate on the rule, with a final vote cast around 11:00am ET. On a largely party-line 230-194 vote, the rule was adopted so that debate on the AHCA could begin. Without the support of a majority of members the rule would've failed and the bill couldn't have been considered. Six Republican members opposed the rule, while five Democrats did not vote.

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7:00am ET: The House Rules Committee met to approve a rule that structures the debate surrounding the AHCA. It formally added changes to the bill that had been announced last night, limited debate to four hours evenly divided between the majority and minority parties, waives points of order against the bill, and doesn't allow amendments to be proposed and debated on the House floor. The rule was approved on a partyline 9-3 vote with the committee's ranking member, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), not voting.

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You can learn more about the American Health Care Act and tell your rep how to vote below:

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— Eric Revell

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(Photo Credit: Lawrence Jackson / Public Domain)

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He DIDN'T say that following it is OPTIONAL! Nor did He say we could make changes to His pattern! I believe that there will be an eternal home of the soul - Heaven or Hell - and that Christ will judge us on the last day. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God!\n\nI am NOT\n• a Catholic\n• a Protestant\n• a Baptist\n• a Methodist\n• a Mormon\n• an Episcopalian\n• a Pentacostal\nor member of any other denomination.\n\n• I AM A CHRISTIAN, PERIOD!\n• I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PERIOD! \n• I ACKNOWLEDGE NO HEAD OF THE CHURCH EXCEPT CHRIST JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, PERIOD! \n• I FOLLOW NO MANMADE CREED, BUT THE BIBLE ONLY, WHICH IS THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD, PERIOD!\n\nI'm a 4th. generation Texan & the mother of 2 sons. I'm retired. I love the mountains and I like Oberhasli dairy goats, organic gardening, science fiction, astronomy, camping, and hunting. I'm very fond of my OESheepdog and my Norwegian Forest cat, too.\n\n• I'm a Constitutional Conservative and a patriot. \n•. I support the Tea Party. \n• I'm for limited government and free market capitalism. \n• I'm also for school choice and school prayer. \n• I'm against abortion and same-sex \"marriage\". \n• I'm TOTALLY AGAINST the implementation of Shariah law at any level in the United States! \n• I'm for SECURE BORDERS and reduced immigration, especially of Muslims! \n• I believe ALL illegal aliens should be deported. Those who enter our country illegally should not be given special privileges at the taxpayers' expense! \n• I believe that Congress should balance the budget and Uncle Sam should live within his means - without raising taxes! \n• I also believe in \"peace through strength\" - keep our military strong and keep out the transgenders! Freedom of religion applies to the military as well as civilians! I'm AGAINST allowing foreigners to join our military! That includes Obama's Dreamers! \n• I want to see a ban on GMOs! \n• I want to see the federal government OUT OF education! \n• Audit the Fed! \n• Abolish the IRS! \n• Just say \"NO\" to political correctness and race-baiting!\n\nThis is not a complete description of what I stand for. If you have specific questions about me, it can't hurt to ask! I might even answer! :-D #MakeDCListen\n\nTHIS IS MY COUNTRY!\n\nI AM TIRED OF AND FED UP WITH MUSLIM JIHADISTS AND ILLEGAL ALIENS IN MY COUNTRY, WHO ARE BRINGING DRUGS, DISEASE, AND CRIME, WHILE BEING CODDLED BY MY GOVERNMENT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE AMERICAN CITIZENS! IT'S NOT RIGHT FOR US TO HAVE TO SUFFER THIS INVASION BY PEOPLE WHO DON'T RESPECT OUR LAWS, OUR PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, OUR FLAG, OUR LANGUAGE (That's ENGLISH!), OR OUR CULTURE! AND I'M TIRED OF AND FED UP WITH HAVING TO \"PRESS 1 FOR ENGLISH\"! WE NEED A MORATORIUM ON MUSLIM IMMIGRATION AND WE NEED TO KICK OUT ALL OF THE ILLEGAL ALIENS WHO BY DEFINITION ARE CRIMINALS! WE NEED TO MAKE OUR GOVERNMENT UNDERSTAND THAT WE DON'T WANT AMERICA TURNED INTO A THIRD WORLD CESSPOOL!\n\nI AM NOT ANTI-IMMIGRANT. I AM FOR THE RULE OF LAW. I DON'T CARE WHAT COLOR YOUR SKIN IS OR WHAT YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE IS. BUT IF YOU COME TO MY COUNTRY TO LIVE, I EXPECT YOU TO LEARN AND SPEAK ENGLISH AND TO OBEY OUR LAWS! NONE OF THAT SHARIAH STUFF! WE HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION HERE IN AMERICA, AND ISLAM IS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO THAT FREEDOM! SPARE ME YOUR TAQIYYA AND HUDNA! YOU WANT TO BELIEVE MUHAMMAD IS A PROPHET OF GOD? THAT IS YOUR RIGHT, BUT IT IS OUR RIGHT TO DISAGREE WITH YOUR BELIEFS. IT IS NOT YOUR RIGHT TO KILL US FOR DISAGREEING! 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