Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul confirmed Tuesday that he will vote “yes” to advance the Senate Obamacare bill, but emphasized that he will not officially back legislation without insight from other conservative senators, as conservatives has been “treated shoddy.”
“Nobody in Congress is more for repealing Obamacare and replacing all of it then me, ” Paul told Fox & Friends. He made it clear that he is not in support of the bill itself, but rather the repeal process. “I’ll vote to get the bill out. But I want some assurance that we’ll have a vote on a clean repeal.”
Paul added that other senators such as Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz have put forth amendments to lower insurance costs and cut billions in insurance company subsidies, Fox News reported.
Additionally, the senator contends that because the legislation has not been reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office, these amendments cannot be passed without receiving at least 60 votes.
While the Obamacare overhaul measure has been passed by the GOP-majority House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is still waiting for the votes needed in his chamber to take a preliminary vote.
A minimum of 50 out of the chamber’s 52 GOP senators will need to back the bill, Vice President Mike Pence being the deciding vote. Notably, Trump is rooting for the Senate to pass an overhaul bill prior to the August congressional recess, beginning next week.
Paul continued to condemn leadership and express his discontent for “the process.” “We haven’t gotten zip from leadership,” he said, adding that it is unclear of whether the bill will require a full or partial repeal of Obamacare.
“Conservatives are getting nothing,” he concluded.
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