Fox News contributor and columnist Charles Krauthammer said Tuesday evening that Senate Republican leadership crafting their version of health care reform behind closed doors may not be the best idea, but it might be the only way to successfully repeal Obamacare.
Krauthammer, appearing on “Special Report with Bret Baier” Tuesday, said that keeping the health care bill a secret is “necessary,” but not an inherently “brilliant idea.”
Crafting the legislation behind closed doors “alienates a lot of people but it’s the only way to do it,” Krauthammer said. He explained that if lawmakers open “the process in the beginning or the middle, you never get to the end.”
“You have to present something and you have to do it behind closed doors. You presented and then you fight it out. It’s the only way Mitch McConnell could have done it, and it’s the way he’s doing it,” Krauthammer said.
The columnist warned President Donald Trump’s administration and Republicans in Congress in February about the potential repercussions of failing to repeal and replace Obamacare.
In February, Krauthammer reminded Republicans that they “ran against” Obamacare “for seven years,” and it would be “a catastrophe” if they don’t come through on their chief promise to the American people. (RELATED: Krauthammer: Failing To Repeal Obamacare Is ‘The Ultimate Betrayal’ [VIDEO])
“You promised you would do it, and that would be the ultimate betrayal of the electorate.” For Trump and Republicans to save face, “it has to get done.”
Krauthammer also pointed out some potential challenges to a successful repeal. “If you get it done, you own the entire system of American medicine,” Krauthammer said. “Politically, the danger is that you own the system. So if something goes wrong in anybody’s life … you will be responsible for it and blamed.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is dead set on keeping the pressure on Senate Republicans to vote on their version of Obamacare repeal before Congress leaves for the July 4 recess.
Senate leadership has set a timeline to vote on its version of health care reform next week, a bill that is anticipated to repeal significant portions of former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
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