Sen. Ron Johnson said Wednesday that Republicans should have invited congressional Democrats into the process of writing a healthcare reform bill, which stalled in the Senate this week.
“I wish we were doing this on a bipartisan basis. I think it was a mistake right away saying we’re going to do this partisan. That’s where we’re at,” Johnson said on CNN.
Democrats told Republicans weeks ago that they would not participate at all in writing the bill as long as the GOP goal was to repeal Obamacare. Last week, Democrats changed strategies and said they wanted to play a role, but Republicans said they were not adjusting their plans to whittle away at President Obama’s healthcare law.
Republican @RonJohnsonWI: Health care process in Senate should have begun on non-partisan basis https://t.co/j79ITETQvT— New Day (@NewDay) June 28, 2017
Johnson said he was against taking up the bill this week because the Senate did not have enough information on it. Aside from the Congressional Budget Office’s score, which was delivered on Monday, he said lawmakers lack outside information about how the legislation would affect 320 million Americans.
“The problem in Washington, D.C., is we talk policy absent and void of information. That was my problem with the process, is it started with all these policy arguments, void of any information. We finally have some information,” said Johnson.
The Wisconsin lawmaker said while Republicans focus on their bill, Democrats might take up their own version, and the two parties might be able to tackle it together in the future. That possibility could happen if Republicans are unable to convince their own members to advance the bill without Democratic help.
Johnson attended a last-minute meeting with Senate Republicans and President Trump at the White House on Tuesday afternoon.
