Sen. Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch told reporters Monday that it will be “virtually impossible” for Republicans to pass the latest iteration of Obamacare repeal legislation on his way into the only public hearing on the bill.
The Utah lawmaker made his comments hours before the highly anticipated Senate Committee on Finance hearing on the bill was set to begin. The hearing has been delayed due to disruptions by protestors that began crowding the halls of the Capitol hours before the 2 p.m. start time.
NEW: Sen Finance Cmte Chair Hatch tells reporters it will be ‘virtually impossible’ to pass #GrahmCassidy as he heads to hearing on bill
— Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) September 25, 2017
The bill’s cosponsors, GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, released a revised version of the bill Monday in a bid to win the support of moderate Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
The new bill provides a number of concessions to the current holdouts, and institutes a number of repeals, changes and amendments to Obamacare. Graham and Cassidy are hoping that these will suffice to bring in the necessary votes.
Republicans must bring the bill to a vote before Sept. 30 to ensure that the bill can pass under budget resolution rules with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes required under regular order.
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