Conservatives in the upper chamber are advocating Republicans push the boundaries of the reconciliation process in an attempt to include non-budgetary provisions in their Obamacare repeal-and-replacement bill.
GOP lawmakers are hoping to repeal the Affordable Care Act using a reconciliation process, which allows the measure to pass the upper chamber with just a simple majority. Traditionally, the procedure requires each provision to directly impact the budget.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul argue — depending on who is presiding over the upper chamber — lawmakers should be able to include language for things like allowing insurers to sell plans across state lines.
“The original law says the [person in the] chair decides — it doesn’t say anything about the parliamentarian,” Paul told Politico.
House Republican leadership initially called for using a three-prong approach to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s landmark health care legislation — repealing large portions through the reconciliation bill, using executive orders to roll back Obamacare regulations and making additional changes through separate legislation requiring 60 votes in the Senate. But according to Paul and Cruz, Republicans could streamline the process by including language slated to be passed in the third-prong bills in the reconciliation measure.
“We’re not getting eight Democrats on anything,” Cruz told the publication. “And so what I’ve been urging for the past several months is take everything in bucket three and everything in bucket two and put it in bucket one. That the only thing passing is reconciliation.”
While advocates argue the unprecedented move would simplify the process, not all GOP lawmakers are on board with the idea.
GOP South Dakota Sen. John Thune argued it could set a bad precedent for the future.
Republican Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker echoed Thune’s concerns, noting going nuclear would likely see strong pushback on both sides of the aisle.
“I don’t think it’s the best approach, and I think there would be resistance to that. It’s tempting, but it’s the proverbial slippery slope,” he said.
Senate Republicans have yet to put forward a plan, but Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said he’s confident the legislation will be passed by August recess.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put together a 13-person health-care working group tasked with rewriting the repeal legislation.
The lower chamber passed its legislation in early-April after months of negotiations and one botched attempt. The bill is expected to be changed dramatically in the Senate.
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