Health bill stalls as more GOP senators announce opposition
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican Senators Mike Lee, of Utah, and Jerry Moran, of Kansas, announced late Monday they would not support the GOP's most recent verison of the Senate health care bill, effectively stalling the legislation.
In a statement released Monday night, Sen. Lee said he will vote no on the Better Care Reconciliation Act.
“After conferring with trusted experts regarding the latest version of the Consumer Freedom Amendment, I have decided I cannot support the current version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act,” Sen. Lee said. “In addition to not repealing all of the Obamacare taxes, it doesn’t go far enough in lowering premiums for middle class families; nor does it create enough free space from the most costly Obamacare regulations.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Moran tweeted his official statement in which he voiced his opposition to the Senate's latest bill, stating, "We should not put our stamp of approval on bad policy."
The two senators join Senators Rand Paul, of Kentucky, and Susan Collins, of Maine, who both made clear last week they would not support the bill.
With a 52-48 majority, the two senators' opposition to the bill means it is effectively dead in the Senate.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate's second failure at attempting to repeal and replace ObamaCare is "proof" that the bill is "unworkable."
The legislation, which was strongly backed by President Donald Trump, is the second failure in the Senate for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had to cancel voting on an earlier version of the bill last month when it became clear it wouldn't pass. McConnell had planned to "move to proceed" on the health care bill this week.
The Senate bill eliminated mandates and taxes under ObamaCare, and unraveled a Medicaid expansion. But for conservatives like Lee and Paul it didn't go far enough in delivering on Republican Party promises to undo Obama's law, while moderates like Collins viewed the bill as too extreme in yanking insurance coverage from millions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Chad Pergram and Mike Emanuel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.