[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":3813,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"Donald Trump promised voters an immediate repeal of Obamacare, but Republicans in Congress likely won\u2019t have a bill ready for him on Day One.

Meanwhile, battle lines were being drawn on Wednesday, as Democrats vowed to fight repeal and hold Republicans accountable for any reductions in coverage.

Republican leaders will start deploying fast-track procedures Wednesday to get the bill through the Senate, but that will require weeks of wrangling, if not longer.

It\u2019ll be an early lesson for Trump in the sometimes-glacial pace of Congress. And it\u2019s likely to get more difficult from here, as the incoming president moves on to other areas where Republicans aren\u2019t in such lockstep, such as infrastructure spending, where he might need bipartisan support.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence told Republicans in a private meeting Wednesday that Trump, on his first day in office, plans to take action on Obamacare through executive orders aimed at making sure the insurance marketplace isn\u2019t disrupted by a repeal, according to Representative Chris Collins of New York, one of Trump\u2019s earliest House GOP backers. Republicans are hoping to have a replacement plan on paper in six months, Collins said.

On Wednesday morning, Trump warned Republicans about their tactics on the healthcare issue.

\u201cRepublicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases,\u201d he wrote on Twitter. \u201cDon\u2019t let the Schumer clowns out of this web.\u201d

\u201cMassive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess,\u201d he added. \u201dIt will fall of its own weight -- be careful!\u201d

While Trump talks of action with the speed of a tweet, things have a way of slowing down on Capitol Hill, even when party leaders and the president are on the same page.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama and Pence visited Capitol Hill for separate meetings on the healthcare bill. Obama met with Democrats to strategize over how to defend his signature initiative, while Pence talked with Republicans about the next steps in repealing and replacing it.

Obama told Democrats that he takes responsibility for not having fully communicated the potential benefits of the healthcare law, according to a Democratic aide. \u201cDespite the negativity, you have a big chunk of the country that wants this thing to succeed,\u201d he said, according to the aide. \u201cThere are real lives at stake in this thing.\u201d

Given Democratic opposition, Republicans plan to use a special budget procedure known as reconciliation, which is not subject to a filibuster, in hopes of putting a bill repealing much of the health-care law on Trump\u2019s desk as soon as possible after his January 20 inauguration.

The process can get messy. It starts with passage of a budget resolution with instructions to committees in each chamber, which then draft reconciliation packages. Those packages are combined into a bill that must pass both chambers. If the two versions have differences, they must be settled and passed again.

Republicans will first have to overcome a revolt from Senator Rand Paul on unrelated budget issues, with the Kentucky Republican saying Tuesday in an interview he would oppose the budget resolution because it adds significantly to the deficit.

\"It never gets to balance. Not in 10 years, not in 100 years, not in 1,000,\" Paul said.

\"Every Republican that was here voted for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that said it should balance in five years, but yet they are putting together a budget that never balances,\" he said. Paul added he isn\u2019t swayed by the argument that the numbers don\u2019t matter and are merely a way to fast-track the Obamacare repeal bill.

Indeed, the resolution sees the deficit rising nearly every year before hitting north of $1 trillion in 2026 alone, with the national debt hitting $29 trillion that year.

Paul noted that until Pence is sworn in as vice president and can break ties in the Senate, a single other Republican voting no would potentially force Republicans to rewrite or delay the resolution.

As part of the process, the Senate next week will hold a vote-a-rama, where senators can call for votes on an unlimited series of amendments. That gives Democrats an opportunity to score some political points and force Republicans to take some politically awkward votes.

Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland predicted Democrats would keep those amendments focused on Obamacare if Republicans narrowly target the budget resolution themselves, but said the strategy would be set by new Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. (Democrats will get another bite at this process in the spring, when Congress considers next year\u2019s budget.)

After the House and Senate have adopted identical budget resolutions, the committees have to draft the actual repeal bill in each chamber. They\u2019ll have to deliver $2 billion in deficit reduction over a decade set by the resolution, but otherwise are free to write the details of the bill in their committee\u2019s jurisdiction. The major limitation for lawmakers is that they can\u2019t include items that only have an incidental impact on the budget.

But the tougher piece will be agreeing on the details of how much to roll back and when. Republican need to keep at least 50 of 52 of their flock in the Senate on board after January 20, assuming Pence will vote to break ties in their favor and no Democrats defect.

A Republican senator, on condition of anonymity, said the details of the repeal bill remain very uncertain. Originally, Republicans were planning to simply bring back the bill they put on Obama\u2019s desk last year for his veto.

But that bill was written knowing it wouldn\u2019t become law, and now some Republicans want to make tweaks to soften the blow of repeal.

\"Even people who voted for this before are, \u2018Wait a minute, wait a minute, we knew that wasn\u2019t going to happen,\u2019 \" said the senator. \"There were no consequences.\" He said there\u2019s a growing sense among some of his colleagues that they need to have a replacement for Obamacare ready soon, \"because we\u2019re going to own this.\"

\"I think they\u2019re stuck,\" Schumer said regarding the prospects of Republicans devising a replacement healthcare bill. \"They\u2019re going to regret the day they made this their opening issue.\"

The areas of uncertainty include how long Congress will have to devise a new system\u2014two years, three years, or something else\u2014and whether to keep some of the revenue and other savings from Obamacare in reserve to pay for a replacement.

\"Anything when you get into details is tougher,\" acknowledged Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, the chairman of the Budget Committee.

Republicans like Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee\u2014the chairman of the health committee, one of the two panels that will write the repeal bill\u2014have publicly urged party members to take their time and work with Democrats on a replacement. But there are also voices that want a repeal and a replacement on a much more urgent schedule.

\"I think it should be very short. As short as possible,\" said Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, of the transition to a new system. \"If we don\u2019t, I think you\u2019ll see companies pull out of the exchanges, among other things.\"

Balancing demands for a timely repeal and replacement with senators pressing for flexibility will be difficult, as any group of three Republican senators on either side of the internal debate could stall the process indefinitely.
","saveContent":"Donald Trump promised voters an immediate repeal of Obamacare, but Republicans in Congress likely won\u2019t have a bill ready for him on Day One.

Meanwhile, battle lines were being drawn on Wednesday, as Democrats vowed to fight repeal and hold Republicans accountable for any reductions in coverage.

Republican leaders will start deploying fast-track procedures Wednesday to get the bill through the Senate, but that will require weeks of wrangling, if not longer.

It\u2019ll be an early lesson for Trump in the sometimes-glacial pace of Congress. And it\u2019s likely to get more difficult from here, as the incoming president moves on to other areas where Republicans aren\u2019t in such lockstep, such as infrastructure spending, where he might need bipartisan support.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence told Republicans in a private meeting Wednesday that Trump, on his first day in office, plans to take action on Obamacare through executive orders aimed at making sure the insurance marketplace isn\u2019t disrupted by a repeal, according to Representative Chris Collins of New York, one of Trump\u2019s earliest House GOP backers. Republicans are hoping to have a replacement plan on paper in six months, Collins said.

On Wednesday morning, Trump warned Republicans about their tactics on the healthcare issue.

\u201cRepublicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases,\u201d he wrote on Twitter. \u201cDon\u2019t let the Schumer clowns out of this web.\u201d

\u201cMassive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess,\u201d he added. \u201dIt will fall of its own weight -- be careful!\u201d

While Trump talks of action with the speed of a tweet, things have a way of slowing down on Capitol Hill, even when party leaders and the president are on the same page.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama and Pence visited Capitol Hill for separate meetings on the healthcare bill. Obama met with Democrats to strategize over how to defend his signature initiative, while Pence talked with Republicans about the next steps in repealing and replacing it.

Obama told Democrats that he takes responsibility for not having fully communicated the potential benefits of the healthcare law, according to a Democratic aide. \u201cDespite the negativity, you have a big chunk of the country that wants this thing to succeed,\u201d he said, according to the aide. \u201cThere are real lives at stake in this thing.\u201d

Given Democratic opposition, Republicans plan to use a special budget procedure known as reconciliation, which is not subject to a filibuster, in hopes of putting a bill repealing much of the health-care law on Trump\u2019s desk as soon as possible after his January 20 inauguration.

The process can get messy. It starts with passage of a budget resolution with instructions to committees in each chamber, which then draft reconciliation packages. Those packages are combined into a bill that must pass both chambers. If the two versions have differences, they must be settled and passed again.

Republicans will first have to overcome a revolt from Senator Rand Paul on unrelated budget issues, with the Kentucky Republican saying Tuesday in an interview he would oppose the budget resolution because it adds significantly to the deficit.

\"It never gets to balance. Not in 10 years, not in 100 years, not in 1,000,\" Paul said.

\"Every Republican that was here voted for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that said it should balance in five years, but yet they are putting together a budget that never balances,\" he said. Paul added he isn\u2019t swayed by the argument that the numbers don\u2019t matter and are merely a way to fast-track the Obamacare repeal bill.

Indeed, the resolution sees the deficit rising nearly every year before hitting north of $1 trillion in 2026 alone, with the national debt hitting $29 trillion that year.

Paul noted that until Pence is sworn in as vice president and can break ties in the Senate, a single other Republican voting no would potentially force Republicans to rewrite or delay the resolution.

As part of the process, the Senate next week will hold a vote-a-rama, where senators can call for votes on an unlimited series of amendments. That gives Democrats an opportunity to score some political points and force Republicans to take some politically awkward votes.

Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland predicted Democrats would keep those amendments focused on Obamacare if Republicans narrowly target the budget resolution themselves, but said the strategy would be set by new Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. (Democrats will get another bite at this process in the spring, when Congress considers next year\u2019s budget.)

After the House and Senate have adopted identical budget resolutions, the committees have to draft the actual repeal bill in each chamber. They\u2019ll have to deliver $2 billion in deficit reduction over a decade set by the resolution, but otherwise are free to write the details of the bill in their committee\u2019s jurisdiction. The major limitation for lawmakers is that they can\u2019t include items that only have an incidental impact on the budget.

But the tougher piece will be agreeing on the details of how much to roll back and when. Republican need to keep at least 50 of 52 of their flock in the Senate on board after January 20, assuming Pence will vote to break ties in their favor and no Democrats defect.

A Republican senator, on condition of anonymity, said the details of the repeal bill remain very uncertain. Originally, Republicans were planning to simply bring back the bill they put on Obama\u2019s desk last year for his veto.

But that bill was written knowing it wouldn\u2019t become law, and now some Republicans want to make tweaks to soften the blow of repeal.

\"Even people who voted for this before are, \u2018Wait a minute, wait a minute, we knew that wasn\u2019t going to happen,\u2019 \" said the senator. \"There were no consequences.\" He said there\u2019s a growing sense among some of his colleagues that they need to have a replacement for Obamacare ready soon, \"because we\u2019re going to own this.\"

\"I think they\u2019re stuck,\" Schumer said regarding the prospects of Republicans devising a replacement healthcare bill. \"They\u2019re going to regret the day they made this their opening issue.\"

The areas of uncertainty include how long Congress will have to devise a new system\u2014two years, three years, or something else\u2014and whether to keep some of the revenue and other savings from Obamacare in reserve to pay for a replacement.

\"Anything when you get into details is tougher,\" acknowledged Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, the chairman of the Budget Committee.

Republicans like Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee\u2014the chairman of the health committee, one of the two panels that will write the repeal bill\u2014have publicly urged party members to take their time and work with Democrats on a replacement. But there are also voices that want a repeal and a replacement on a much more urgent schedule.

\"I think it should be very short. As short as possible,\" said Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, of the transition to a new system. \"If we don\u2019t, I think you\u2019ll see companies pull out of the exchanges, among other things.\"

Balancing demands for a timely repeal and replacement with senators pressing for flexibility will be difficult, as any group of three Republican senators on either side of the internal debate could stall the process indefinitely.
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How the GOP bid to repeal Obamacare could hit roadblocks

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