Top GOP officials say their first order of business in the new year is to repeal and replace Obamacare. But the first order itself has a clear first step.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence and House speaker Paul Ryan spoke to reporters Wednesday about Republican plans to address the health care law, an event made timelier after President-elect Donald Trump cautioned his party to tread the issue’s treacherous ground carefully earlier that morning. Both Pence and Ryan were sure to mention the words “repeal” and “replace” in the same sentence, amid criticism that D.C.’s ruling party has yet to unveil successor legislation. But they also said the process would be incremental.
“Step one will be to repeal Obamacare, but as the president-elect said today, and I admonished [Republicans] today, it’s important that we remind the American people of what they already know about Obamacare: that the promises that were made were all broken,” said Pence. “I expect you’ll see an effort in the days ahead to talk about the facts around Obamacare. And secondly, of course, is to begin that orderly transition to something better.”
The transition, they said, would include a mix of executive actions and legislative efforts to ease the effect of any governing activity on the marketplace and consumers who have insurance through the law. “We want to make sure that as we give relief to people [from] Obamacare, we do it in a transition that doesn’t pull the rug out from anybody during that transition period,” Ryan stated.
But Republicans themselves have to be wary of slipping, thanks to the charged politics of dismantling the law and the cumbersome mechanics of replacing it. Already, conservatives have demanded that the GOP majority be an aggressor and eliminate Obamacare with little delay. “There is no excuse not to [do it],” Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint stated.
Ryan and Pence wouldn’t disagree. The House speaker talked about working “hand in glove” with the administration: As the White House took its own action, Congress would proceed with budget reconciliation—allowing the Senate to gut the law with only 50 yea votes—in the coming days. However, the yet-to-be-named follow-up act is a different matter entirely. An Obamacare replacement will require 60 votes in the Senate, meaning the difficult process of courting Democrats is around the corner. And it could be a long walk.
“We have a plan to replace it. We have plenty of ideas to replace it. And you’ll see as the weeks and months unfold, what we’re talking about replacing it [with],” said Ryan.
