Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said Thursday that he would push Democrats to vote against a short-term spending bill aimed at preventing a partial government shutdown if House Republicans try to vote on a measure this week to repeal portions of Obamacare.
“If Republicans announce their intention to bring their harmful Trumpcare bill to the House floor tomorrow or Saturday, I will oppose a one-week Continuing Resolution and will advise House Democrats to oppose it as well,” said Hoyer, a congressman from Maryland.
“Republicans continue to struggle to find the votes to pass a bill that will kick 24 million people off their health coverage, allow discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions and impose an age tax on older Americans,” Hoyer said. “That’s why they are trying to jam it through the House before their members can hear from the American people this weekend about their opposition to this horrible legislation.”
Without a vote on the spending bill, which will keep the government open through May 5 as ongoing negotiations continue, the government would partially shut down.
Republican leaders have been working to bring about enough support for the bill, the American Health Care Act, to guarantee that it will have the 217 votes it needs to go before the Senate. Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus now support the bill after a new set of changes were made, but some centrist Republicans say they are wary about those recent changes, raising questions about whether the votes are there yet.
A vote on the bill has not been scheduled, and it’s increasingly unlikely with each passing hour that Republicans will have enough time to get to the bill this week. But there was some talk of starting up the process of setting up a vote, in the hopes that enough Republicans now support it.
The Trump administration has been pushing the House to vote on the bill by Saturday, which will mark Trump’s 100th day in the White House.
