Democrats plan to bring the Senate to a screeching halt to protest the GOP healthcare bill

pulse

June 19, 2017 5:06 PM

Senate Democrats plan to go all out in their protest against the GOP healthcare bill starting Monday night.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Lawmakers in the party plan to use a series of stall tactics to try to draw attention to the way Republicans are writing their version of the American Health Care Act and to protest the policy changes that are expected to be in the bill.

A Democratic Senate aide told Business Insider the move would consist of four measures:

While none of these measures can hold up the bill indefinitely, the Democratic protests would slow down the Senate business and most likely bring more attention to the issue.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Republicans are writing the bill in private to avoid intense publicly scrutiny.

Despite reports suggesting McConnell intends to bring the bill to the floor for a vote by the weeklong July 4 recess, there is no public text, no Congressional Budget Office score, and scant details on what the bill will contain.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that the moves were designed to shed a light on the bill and that the secretive process showed Republicans to be "ashamed of it, plain and simple."

"These are merely the first steps we're prepared to take in order to shine a light on this shameful Trumpcare bill and reveal to the public the GOP's true intentions: to give the uber-wealthy a tax break while making middle class Americans pay more for less healthcare coverage," Schumer said. "If Republicans won't relent and debate their health care bill in the open for the American people to see, then they shouldn't expect business as usual in the Senate."

While a good number of Senate GOP members have also expressed frustration about the closed-door process being used to create the bill, none have publicly rejected the tactic. In a statement, the Republican National Committee called the move a "pure partisan game aimed at placating the far-left."

pulse

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng