The Senate was set to consider more than 100 amendments late Wednesday and into Thursday morning as they hammer out a budget resolution that will launch Republicans’ Obamacare repeal effort, involving several votes on Democratic proposals that have almost no chance of being passed.
The amendment votes, which require 60 votes to pass, were seen largely as a delay tactic from Democrats before a final vote on the resolution, which could come in the early morning hours of Thursday. At the end of the grueling process, passage of the resolution will only need 51 votes, and it will set up GOP work on repealing the healthcare law.
The resolution directs four panels in the House and Senate to draft repeal legislation by Jan. 27 that are eligible for the reconciliation process, which enables bills to be approved with a 51-vote majority in the Senate, instead of the usual 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.
A group of five senators considered giving the committees until March 3 to create the repeal legislation. But the senator behind the effort, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., withdrew his proposal Wednesday night after speaking with GOP leadership. He said a change to the date isn’t needed because the date being used in the resolution is aspirational, and not binding.
“We realize that [Jan. 27] is not a real date and that is a place holder,” said Corker. “That is the earliest they can come back.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the second-ranking Republican senator, was opposed to the change to the deadline, saying it would signal that the GOP is “already delaying this process.” Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine and Bill Cassidy, R-La., introduced the amendment alongside Corker.
A vast majority of the amendments that are set to be considered during the voting marathon Wednesday are from Democrats and seek to highlight potential consequences of repealing Obamacare without any replacement.
They call for votes on issues such as ensuring that no rural hospitals get closed or preserving the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare. Another amendment from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., opposes any legislation that would “make America sick again,” a slogan Democrats have adopted during the repeal effort.
Some Republican senators slammed their colleagues for introducing the votes, which are highly unlikely to get approved due to the 60-vote ceiling.
“These are political messaging bills from Democrats who are doubling down on their support of Obamacare,” said Sen. Cory Garnder, R-Colo., adding that the healthcare law is one of the most “unpopular bills in the history of Congress.”
Other Republicans have introduced amendments that have nothing to do with the Obamacare repeal.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., introduced measures to create a reserve fund related to infrastructure construction projects and another fund for drought prevention. Another focuses on delaying enforcement of 2015 ozone standards and requesting for new rulemaking.
He did offer some other amendments related to healthcare, such as one that called for a reserve fund for expanding health savings accounts, a key pillar of several conservative replacement plans.
Other amendments to the budget resolution have failed along party line votes. For instance, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., failed to get enough votes for his amendment that would shield entitlement programs from budget cuts.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said on the Senate floor Wednesday he would vote against all of the amendments to ensure smooth passage of the bill in the House. “I think keeping a clean bill makes it more likely we will be able to pass this legislation,” he said.
After amendment work is done, the Senate is expected to hold a final vote on the resolution. The House is scheduled to vote on the resolution this Friday.
