Congressional Republicans may be mulling a plan to repeal Obamacare before President-elect Trump takes office, a top GOP leader said Wednesday.
“Nothing has been decided but that is certainly one of the options,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters after a closed-door GOP meeting on Wednesday.
The plan could entail using a budgetary tool known as reconciliation, which allows legislation to pass the Senate with just 51 votes instead of the typical 60 votes. Senate Republicans earlier this year voted to repeal most of the healthcare law using reconciliation, but it was vetoed by President Obama.
“We can go ahead and repeal Obamacare as we’ve done before … but with the likelihood that this time President Trump would actually sign it into law.” Cornyn said.
A staffer for Cornyn said later that Cornyn didn’t mean to imply that a bill would be ready for Trump by the time he takes office, although Cornyn appeared to hear the question about timing when asked by reporters.
“We’ve all been trying to get used to the unexpected outcome with the Republican president and Republican majorities in both houses,” Cornyn said. “But we are eager to get to work, including repealing and replacing Obamacare.”
