The moment the vote scoreboard on the wall of the House chamber showed Republicans had cleared 216 votes on their bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, GOP lawmakers broke into loud cheers. Some pumped their arms in the air, while others clapped in a more subdued fashion.
Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), however, warned his colleagues against excessive jubilation. MacArthur, a co-chairman of the moderate Tuesday Morning group, negotiated a key amendment to the bill that won over critical votes from the House Freedom Caucus.
“I don’t think it’s a day for spiking the football,” he said, shortly after the vote. “This is an important bill. And I’m glad we did it, but I recognize there are a lot of Americans who have concerns. We have a lot of work to do helping people understand what this really does. They have been subject to a lot of fear-mongering.”
MacArthur then left to join 200-plus other lawmakers boarding buses to the White House to celebrate the bill’s passage with President Donald Trump. Protesters chanted, “Shame!” at the Republicans as they filed onto the buses, and Democratic lawmakers sang at them, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”
