A top House Democrats threatened a possible government shutdown if Republicans scheduled a quick vote for their Obamacare repeal bill.
“If Republicans announce their intention to bring their harmful TrumpCare bill to the House Floor tomorrow or Saturday, I will oppose a one-week Continuing Resolution and will advise House Democrats to oppose it as well,” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said in a statement Thursday.
The threat comes has rumors have circulated that Republicans are hopeful for a vote this weekend, in time for President Trump’s 100th day in office, on their recently revived health care overhaul bill, the American Health Care Act. In the meantime, Congress will need to pass a short-term funding bill by Friday to avert a government shutdown and give them a few more days to pass a longterm spending measure.
Trump appeared to respond to Hoyer’s threats in a tweet that referenced a provision in the short-term bill protecting miners’ health benefits.
I want to help our miners while the Democrats are blocking their healthcare.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2017
It’s unclear if GOP House leaders have the votes to bring the health care bill to the floor soon. The conservatives previously resistant to the legislation have come around after a new amendment was unveiled this week, but moderates who opposed the bill remain skeptical.
The Democrats in the House need to hold fast on this. They must not cave and give the Republicans a vote on the very bad, now even worse AHCA.
There is ZERO DOWNSIDE to Congressional Dems blocking Zombie Trumpcare. Trump & the GOP can politicize the coal miners health care provision in the CR, all they want. F**k the coal miners! Not our constituents.
Time to play hard ball.
TPM: please don’t fall for lazy corporate MSM framing - the Republicans are in control of the White House, the Senate, AND the House - any “shutdown” is squarely on their heads. If they are so incompetent they can not even pass a bill to keep the government running…well, that is on them.
Please don’t lets put words in Hoyer’s mouth - he said merely he’ll oppose a short-term CR, if they try to jam through TrumpCare - that is all.
So the republicans, with a 22-vote majority, don’t have enough votes even to pass a continuing resolution to keep the goverment running? And the democrats should help them with things the democrats oppose because why?
So miners are dumb enough to buy this load of crap from the orange embarrassment?