Trio of conservative Republicans rip Senate healthcare process

Source: The Hill | June 20, 2017 | Jordain Carney

A trio of key conservative senators is publicly raising concerns about the GOP bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare, specifically questioning the decision to draft the legislation behind closed doors. 

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said Tuesday he’s getting calls from constituents concerned about the Senate healthcare bill, which is still being finalized. 

“If you’re frustrated by the lack of transparency in this process I share your frustration. I share it wholeheartedly,” he said in a Facebook Live video.

“The American people need and deserve to be able to see legislation as it moves through the Senate,” Lee added. 

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Lee is a member of the working group convened by McConnell, but said he hasn’t seen the draft text yet and hasn’t been involved in writing the legislation. 

“It has become increasingly apparent in the last few days that even though we thought we were going to be in charge of writing a bill within this working group, it’s not being written by us. It’s apparently being written by a small handful of staffers for members of the Republican leadership in the Senate,” he said during the Facebook interview. 

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) seemed to echo Lee’s concerns, and demurred Tuesday when asked if he thought he would have enough time to review the bill.

He told reporters “that’s a big question,” he said, adding, “Healthcare is such an important thing. I think we should have debated it in open, in committee hearings, have both sides bring in witnesses.”

Paul has recently focused on a push to keep some of ObamaCare’s subsidies in the GOP legislation, and warned on Tuesday that he isn’t inclined to support “anything that’s a new entitlement program.” 

“I’m not saying how I’m voting ‘til I see what’s in the bill. I still think there’s a chance that if we don’t get 50 votes, we renegotiate what’s in the bill completely. I think we could start over,” he told Bloomberg

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is also a member of the working group with Lee, defended the process on Tuesday, arguing that complaints from Democrats who feel left out of the process are “fairly amusing.” 

“There has been no political issue in modern times more debated than ObamaCare,” he told reporters. 

But Cruz also signaled dissatisfaction with the emerging Senate legislation, saying it’s “got a long way to go.” 

“In particular, we need [to do] a substantially better job of driving down the cost of premiums. That remains my number one priority,” he said. 

Cruz, Lee, and Paul represent three key conservative votes for GOP leadership. 

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Cruz, Lee and Paul previously teamed up to push for “full repeal” of ObamaCare.

If they band together on the Senate legislation, they would be able to block any bill they opposed. 

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