President Trump is getting a lot of on-the-job training these days. While the Republican Party is all in favor of doing something drastic about Obamacare, they can’t make up their minds as to what that should be. Seven years after it became the law of the land, the GOP leadership has not yet formulated a single plan that a majority can agree upon.
Republican leaders will supposedly move quickly now on legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare, with a vote by the full House slated for Thursday. But will the votes be there?
Conservatives say the plan falls short of full repeal and would create new entitlements. Centrist Republicans are angry at measures rolling back the Medicaid expansion or de-funding Planned Parenthood. Many of those Republicans come from districts Hillary Clinton won. Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus worry any changes won’t be enough.
The vote will pass with a slim majority if it indeed it does pass. The GOP leaders cannot afford more than 21 defections in the House and two in the Senate. That is without a single Democratic vote.
As of Saturday, March 18th, GOP House no votes (16) include:
Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.). Rep. Dave Brat (Va.), Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio),Rep. Tom Garrett (Va.), Rep. Louie Gohmert (Texas), Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), Rep. Walter Jones (N.C.), Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Rep. John Katko (N.Y.), Rep. Steve King (Iowa), Rep. Raúl Labrador (Idaho), Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.),Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), Rep. Mark Sanford (S.C.), Rep. Rob Wittman (Va.) and Rep. Ted Yoho (Fla.).
GOP House votes leaning/likely no votes (8) include:
Rep. Mark Amodei (Nev.),Rep. Lou Barletta (Pa.), Rep. Mo Brooks (Ala.), Rep. Peter King, Rep. Leonard Lance (N.J.), Rep. Mark Meadows (N.C.), Rep. Claudia Tenney (N.Y.) and Rep. David Young (Iowa).
GOP House votes unclear or uncertain (12) include:
Rep. Ken Buck (Colo.), Rep. Steve Chabot (Ohio), Rep. Charlie Dent (Pa.), Rep. Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Rep. Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Rep. Frank LoBiondo (N.J.), Rep. Tom MacArthur (N.J.), Rep. Bruce Poliquin (Maine), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Rep. Daniel Webster (Fla.) and Rep. Don Young (Alaska).
GOP House votes voting yes (74) include:
Rep. Robert Aderholt (Ala.), Rep. Jodey Arrington (Texas), Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.), Rep. Andy Barr (Ky.), Rep. Joe Barton (Texas), Rep. Jack Bergman (Mich.), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (Fla.), Rep. Mike Bishop (Mich.), Rep. Diane Black (Tenn.), Rep. Susan Brooks (Ind.), Rep. Vern Buchanan (Fla.), Rep. Larry Bucshon (Ind.), Rep. Michael Burgess (Texas), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Rep. Buddy Carter (Ga.), Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), Rep. Chris Collins (N.Y.), Rep. Ryan Costello (Pa.), Rep. Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Rep. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.), Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (Fla.), Rep. Blake Farenthold (Texas), Rep. John Faso (N.Y.), Rep. Drew Ferguson (Ga.), Rep. Bill Flores (Texas), Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Rep. Morgan Griffith (Va.), Rep. Glenn Grothman (Wis.), Rep. Brett Guthrie (Ky.), Rep. Gregg Harper (Miss.), Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Rep. George Holding (N.C.), Rep. Richard Hudson (N.C.), Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Kan.), Rep. Bill Johnson (Ohio), Rep. Sam Johnson (Texas), Rep.Mike Kelly (Pa.), Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Rep. Bob Latta (Ohio), Rep. Jason Lewis (Minn.), Rep. Billy Long (Mo.), Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Ga.), Rep. Kenny Marchant (Texas), Rep. Patrick Meehan (Pa.), Rep. David McKinley (W.Va.), Rep. Tom McClintock (Calif.), Rep. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), Rep. Tim Murphy (Pa.), Rep. Kristi Noem (S.D.), Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), Rep. Pete Olson (Texas), Rep. Gary Palmer (Ala.), Rep. Erik Paulsen (Minn.), Rep. John Ratcliffe (Texas), Rep. Tom Reed (N.Y.), Rep. Dave Reichert (Wash.), Rep. Jim Renacci (Ohio), Rep. Tom Rice (S.C.), Rep. Todd Rokita (Ind.), Rep. Peter Roskam (Ill.), Rep. David Schweikert (Ariz.), Rep. John Shimkus (Ill.), Rep. Adrian Smith (Neb.), Rep. Jason Smith (Mo.), Rep. Lloyd Smucker (Pa.), Rep. Pat Tiberi (Ohio), Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.), Rep. Tim Walberg (Mich.), Rep. Mark Walker (N.C.), Rep. Jackie Walorski (Ind.), Rep. Mimi Walters (Calif.), Rep. Bruce Westerman (Ark.), Rep. Steve Womack (Ark.) and Rep. Rob Woodall (Ga.).
As of Saturday, March 18th, Senate Republicans voting no (3) include:
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), Sen. Dean Heller (Nev.) and Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.).
GOP Senate votes unclear/uncertain (17) include:
Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.), Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.), Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Sen. Steve Daines (Mont.), Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Sen. Cory Gardner (Colo.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Sen. James Lankford (Okla.), Sen. Mike Lee (Utah), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Sen. John Thune (S.D.), Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.).
President Trump is now learning the hard truths about his own party’s loyalty. Every congressman and senator has an individual agenda and a base of support that is different. Each has their own individual needs and it takes patience and perseverance to rally enough votes to determine when to have lunch in Washington, much less change a major national law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdQYD7gdzgI
