WASHINGTON -- A breakaway group of five moderate Senate Republicans pushed Monday to delay a bill repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act until March.
With Republicans controlling the chamber by just 52-48, that is potentially enough pressure to force the party's leadership to comply.
Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska offered an amendment Monday to the budget resolution that would extend the target date for the committees to write a bill repealing the health law to March 3 from Jan. 27.
"As President-elect [Donald] Trump has stated, repeal and replace should take place simultaneously, and this amendment will give the incoming administration more time to outline its priorities," Corker said in a statement. "By extending the deadline for budget reconciliation instructions until March, Congress and the incoming administration will each have additional time to get the policy right."
With Democrats opposed to a straight repeal bill, Republicans can lose no more than one backer if they want to fast-track their approach before Trump takes office. Republican leaders in the Senate are aiming to adopt the budget resolution -- which would allow a repeal bill to pass with 50 votes and escape a Senate filibuster -- early Thursday after a marathon session of amendment votes.
The amendment came as growing numbers of Republicans showed discomfort over obliterating President Barack Obama's health care overhaul without having a replacement to show voters. Hoping to capitalize on the jitters, Democrats staged an evening Senate talk-athon to condemn the GOP push.
Even before the new amendment was offered, Cassidy, Collins and other senators pushed to delay any repeal of tax increases related to the health law so that there would be revenue to pay for a replacement plan. This puts them at odds with House conservatives, who have been demanding a full, immediate repeal.
But GOP lawmakers have never been able to rally behind an alternative, and Republican senators are increasingly voicing reluctance to vote to yank health coverage from millions of people without a substitute.
That hesitancy was fed as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., among those who want to delay repeal until a substitute is ready, said Trump telephoned him Friday night and expressed support for doing both together.
"There are gathering voices of people saying, 'Hmm, maybe we should have a replacement the same day as a repeal,'" Paul told reporters Monday.
On Monday, more senators said they agreed with a delay on the tax front, including Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota.
Among GOP senators saying repeal should wait until a Republican alternative is ready is Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Health committee, which will be in the middle of the health care rewrite. Others voicing that sentiment include Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Other Republicans are still supporting their leaders' strategy. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said that "if there is a vote to repeal Obamacare I'm going to vote yes," but he wants a three-year delay in implementation for a "comfortable landing." Others also support a swift repeal vote.
Democrats used speeches to C-SPAN cameras and a nearly empty Senate chamber late Monday to attack Republicans for commencing a repeal effort of the law, which has expanded health coverage to 20 million Americans, with no alternative in hand.
"The Republicans hate Obamacare. They hate it almost as much as the devil hates holy water," No. 2 Senate Democratic leader Richard Durbin of Illinois said, using the law's nickname, as his party's planned hours of speeches began.
"They certainly have a plan to repeal it, but when it comes to replacing it, they don't offer anything. But they're going to go ahead with this," said Durbin, who said repeal would be "devastating."
Information for this article was contributed by Steven T. Dennis, Sahil Kapur, Laura Litvan and James Rowley of Bloomberg News; and by Alan Fram and Erica Werner of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/10/2017