Republicans in Congress are planning to strike a direct blow against ObamaCare in the early weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency, the House’s No. 2 leader said on Monday.
{mosads}A budget document that paves the way for ObamaCare’s repeal is expected to come up in the Senate the first week of 2017, according to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
The House would then take up the Senate’s completed budget “right away,” allowing both chambers to begin the budget process known as reconciliation.
The tool allows budget-related legislation — such as the attempt to eliminate the ObamaCare mandates and subsidies — to pass the Senate with a simple majority, instead of 60 votes.
Reconciliation was last used by Republicans in 2015, when GOP leaders tested their process for repealing ObamaCare.
GOP leaders are expected to use largely the same reconciliation bill targeting ObamaCare from 2015. That bill includes a two-year delay of the damaging effects, buying time for Republicans to write their own legislation that would prevent 22 million people from losing coverage.
Republicans have set a goal of approving the joint budget resolution by Inauguration Day, and of passing the reconciliation bill in the first 100 days, according to two GOP sources.
McCarthy declined to provide a specific timeline for the repeal vote.
“I don’t want to set it down, but I’ll tell you it’s very soon,” McCarthy told reporters.
The thorniest part of this year’s reconciliation bill is how long to delay the effects of repeal.
Conservative groups as well as some centrist Republicans say the GOP should pass a bill repealing and replacing ObamaCare immediately. A longer timeframe could cause political problems for Republicans ahead of the 2018 midterms, some moderate lawmakers said during last week’s House GOP caucus meeting.
McCarthy said no decisions have been made about how long to delay the bill, but said there would be a transition.
“More likely, I’d say, ‘Yes, there’s going to be some time for transition,’ ” he said, adding that discussion is underway about what parts of the repeal would have a lag, and which would be immediate.
“Everybody’s raising the issue and trying to work through it,” he said.