Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveils his health care proposal Thursday with a little boost – a pair of Republican victories at the ballot box that he can use to convince wavering senators.
McConnell is still in pursuit of 50 votes to pass the Senate’s repeal and replacement of the 2010 law known as Obamacare, and two congressional elections in South Carolina and Georgia will play a role. Had Republicans lost the contests in the Republican-leaning districts, his powers of persuasion may have taken a hit. Instead, he will point to the victories to argue that Republicans should stick to their script.
“This is something we’ve run on for a number of election cycles and I think the majority leader now may be able to make the point with even more certitude,” said Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, who chaired the House health subcommittee that helped put together the House repeal measure.
“This is one of the reasons we’ve run and won,” Burgess said of the party’s promise to dismantle President Barack Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment.
“It’s a deliverable, it’s expected,” he said. “Every race is different, but the overall message from the elections is a reaffirmation of what the majority leader is trying to do.”
Republican candidate Karen Handel, who won the Atlanta-area congressional seat, suggested as much in her victory speech, telling her audience: “We need to finish the drill on health care.”
McConnell, who hopes to hold a vote on the measure next week, has a complicated task to get to 50. Senate Republicans hold a narrow majority of just 52 to 48, and he can only afford to lose two votes, if vice president Mike Pence casts a tie vote.
Several moderate Senate Republicans and those from states that expanded Medicaid under the 2010 law have voiced worries about the House legislation, which would phase out those Medicaid expansion programs. They’ve pushed for lengthier phaseouts, but conservatives want to more sharply trim back the cost of Medicaid. That means any gains McConnell makes with more moderate members could cost him conservative votes.
Democrats and some Republicans have complained that McConnell has kept the details of the closely held bill mostly under wraps. But McConnell said Wednesday the Senate will unveil the legislation Thursday and post it online “for everyone to review.”
John Rogers, the executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the polling in Georgia and South Carolina indicated that voters “don’t want someone to resist, they want someone who is actually going to represent them.”
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Republican National Committee political director Juston Johnson added that it was prudent “not to extrapolate too much out of special elections.” But he said he believes the results indicate “voters want to send people to Washington to work with the president and get things done. All the Democrats have is obstruction, resistance and moral victories at this point.”