After having seemed eager to vote on the healthcare bill before the Senate recess for the Fourth of July, Senate leader Mitch McConnell has informed Republicans that the vote for the controversial bill will be delayed until after the holiday.
BREAKING: Mitch McConnell telling Senators vote on health care DELAYED until after July 4th recess: via/ @Phil_Mattingly & @mkraju
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) June 27, 2017
After making resolute statements indicating that a vote would most certainly be held this week, McConnell was convinced to delay the vote after two Republican Senators said they would vote “no” on the AHCA and others said they would not approve holding a vote so soon.
Both Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Dean Heller of Nevada have already come out publicly against the latest draft of the AHCA. Though the bill can pass without their votes, many others have said they won’t support the bill as-is, or that they need more time to discuss and revise before allowing a vote.
McConnell’s decision to delay the vote contradicts statements made by Texas Senator and Majority Whip John Cornyn on Monday. In a tweet, the Whip said that the vote must be held before premium increases are announced for the next year.
I am closing the door. We need to do it this week before double digit premium increases are announced for next year. https://t.co/Cxi3qAslg3
— JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 26, 2017
Still, Cornyn may be in agreement with McConnell just a day later as since his strongly-worded statement, two Republican senators have come out against the bill.
Even if Cornyn still opposes the delay, the decision is ultimately up to McConnell who is receiving the most pressure from Republicans who feel a vote on the bill that has been public for less than a week is too much, too fast.
Realistically, McConnell is more than aware that if a vote were held tomorrow on the current version of the AHCA, the version which would boot 22 million from coverage and would gut Medicaid, it would fail. In the GOP’s eyes, it is better to delay and seem weak, than to vote and be proven so.
