Two committee markups on an Obamacare replacement appeared likely to last all night long, as Democrats tried to delay the process by offering dozens of their own amendments and demanding the bill’s text be read aloud.
By 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee had approved only one of the bill’s five sections over which it has jurisdiction, eleven hours after the hearing started.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which provided pizza and coffee to members and reporters, hadn’t even started voting on around 100 amendments Democrats said they would offer. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, told his Democratic colleagues that they’re trying to set a record for the longest time lapse between a markup’s outset and vote on amendments.
“I am not going to commend the minority, but I do want to acknowledge that you want to set the record between opening of a markup and calling up of the amendment,” Barton said.
Both markups were paused twice during the day, so members could go vote on the House floor. But most of the time in Ways and Means was taken up by debate on amendments offered by Democrats which ultimately failed. In the Energy and Commerce hearing, Democrats refused to waive a reading of the bill, insisting the section over which it has jurisdiction be read aloud.
Their goal: to fight Obamacare repeal and replace to the bitter end. It’s unclear whether Republicans will even get enough votes within their conference to pass it. But Democrats for their part are fighting it tooth and timer, slamming the GOP for rolling back some of its coverage expansions and accusing them of rushing it through without proper vetting.
Staff for both committees said the plan is to continue the markups until all the text has been voted on. After that, the various sections will go to the Budget Committee, which will then combine it into a single measure for the full House to vote on.
