As Blasting News reported, House and Senate Republicans met with President Trump at the beginning of the week to try and give the impression that President Trump's agenda was not stalled. While all reports over the past several months show that his agenda is in fact stalled, Republicans continue to try and put a more positive spin on his behalf. But there were some Republicans who had reportedly come out to say the exact opposite, with regards to legislating where it counts; in Congress.
Republicans saying bill will fail
Senate Republicans were reportedly working on a Health Care Bill that was sent to them from the House -- without any Democratic support, which went the unconventional route to get passed.
The idea was that they would not only rewrite the bill but that they would also hold a vote for it, doing much of the work that House Republicans should have done before the bill went to the Senate. But as a Blasting News article suggested, congressional Republicans are willing to do the President's job in order to provide some slack for an inexperienced president.
Early Tuesday, However, before Republicans met with the President, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was candid with reporters telling them that lawmakers were stuck and would not be able to get enough votes to pass it once it went to the floor. He also suggested that they hold an up-or-down vote in the coming weeks and then move onto something else.
If this is indeed the case, then it would be a repeat of the defeat House Speaker Paul Ryan announced when the bill failed the first time, when he proclaimed at the time that Obamacare was "the law of the land."
Controversial provision
The Senate's first Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough reportedly flagged language for a new provision in the bill which is said to threaten it even more.
The Hyde Amendment prevents people from using tax credits which the new American Health Care Act (AHCA) for private insurance that covers abortions. It's said that if the Hyde Amendment is stripped then anti-abortion lawmakers will not get on board with the bill. This certainly adds another layer of uncertainty to an already caustic process.
There is a recess coming up on July 4 which Congress is using as a deadline as to when they need to pass the AHCA. But House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) said that to his knowledge they did not have a date set for the bill. There is already a sense settling in that if the Republicans cannot pass their bill, they will move on to other issues.
