White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday accused House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and all congressional Republicans, of being insincere when it comes to tackling mental illness.
“Well, I will say that there’s a lot of skepticism rooted in Republican claims that they care about improving mental healthcare in this country when they’re prepared this week to actually take their 60th vote to repeal the very law that has done more to expand access to mental healthcare than any other law in decades,” Earnest said at the White House. He was referring to plans to vote for a bill that would gut the major parts of Obamacare.
Earnest was asked whether he thinks there’s room for bipartisanship on mental health given that Ryan on Monday said that policymakers should address mental illness, which he said is a major underlying issue driving gun violence. But Earnest said the GOP’s votes against Obamacare show Republicans aren’t interested.
“So it’s a little hard to consider their claim that they’re interested in investing in mental healthcare as anything other than an attempt to excuse their own inaction to do something serious like standing up to the NRA and passing a common-sense measure that would reduce gun violence,” Earnest said, repeating his claim that Congress won’t strengthen gun-control laws because Republicans fear political retribution from the National Rifle Association.
Ryan said he supports a comprehensive bill authored by Rep. Tim Ryan, R-Penn., to update the nation’s mental healthcare system.
