Politics

Ron Johnson Says Senate Should Shelve Health Care

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Juliegrace Brufke Capitol Hill Reporter
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GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he thinks the Senate should shelve health care and move on to tackling other top priorities during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.

The comments come after GOP lawmakers failed to pass the motion to proceed on a scaled-back version of the Obamacare repeal bill in late-July. Members of the upper chamber recessed on Thursday without a clear plan on how to move forward on health care reform.

“I really do think we probably ought to turn our attention to the debt ceiling and funding the government and tax cuts until we can really get all the parties together,” he told host Jake Tapper. “From my standpoint that really is getting the governors, House members, senators [and] the White House on the same page in terms of healthcare.”

The Senate recessed a week earlier than expected from their extended session, a decision Johnson says he didn’t agree with.

“Well, my preference would have been to stay in session to, you know, grapple with those issues I was talking about,” he continued. “At the same time, get back in the state and talking to constituents.”

While the upper chamber doesn’t get back to work until September, Johnson said he has been in contact with his colleagues on how to best move forward on pressing issues.

“On Friday, I traveled with Agriculture Secretary Perdue and had some, you know, really informative discussions with farmers and agriculture in the state. So, you know, we’re not on vacation. We really are working,” he said. “And again I continue discussions on health care as well as taxes with my colleagues even though we’re not in Washington, D.C.”

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