WATCH: Dems reaching out to Republicans to block Senate health plan

Democrats say they are reaching out to a handful of Republican senators in an effort to block the bill repealing and replacing ObamaCare that GOP leaders plan to vote on next week.

{mosads}”It takes three Republican senators to break away” and vote against the bill to block it, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told The Hill’s Molly K. Hooper.

“If you listen to the [GOP] senators who, over the weekend were critical of the way [Republican leaders] approached this issue, we have three and more,” Durbin said.

Asked if Democrats are talking to skeptical Republicans, Durbin responded, “Yes.”

Regardless of GOP senators voicing concerns, Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) told The Hill that the upper chamber will vote on a healthcare plan next week.

“We’re going to be voting on it next week,” said Cornyn, who is responsible for getting GOP votes in the Senate.

After sharing a “discussion draft” with senators on Thursday, Cornyn said “there’s gonna be extensive briefings, I think every member will have the information they need in order to make a decision.”

But Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said it’s unclear if Republicans will have the votes to pass a measure given intra-party concerns over policy and the process of bringing the legislation to a vote.

“I don’t know – I really don’t,” the freshman GOP senator told The Hill, noting that although not a member of the 13-person Republican healthcare working group, he attended most of the closed-door meetings.

Still, Durbin questioned why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would plan to act on a bill next week without having released the legislation’s text.

McConnell “clearly is not embarrassed by this situation … But you have to ask, why would a leader in the Senate do such an incredibly thoughtless thing,” Durbin said.

Watch the video above to hear the senators in their own words.