The chair of the House Freedom Caucus said Wednesday that voting on the American Health Care Act, the proposed replacement for Obamacare, shouldn’t be a “binary choice,” and that congressional leadership wasn’t allowing for a full legislative process.
“We just got this bill 72 hours ago. The American people first saw this bill 72 hours ago. And to say that we can’t amend it, change it and make it right? That’s just not how the legislative process works,” Jim Jordan (R-OH) told CNN.
“I bet there are a lot of members, in fact I know there are a lot of members, who don’t want this binary choice. They want to weigh in and be part of the legislative process,” he added later.
Republican Rep. @Jim_Jordan says he doesn’t want a “binary choice,” wants to influence, change GOP healthcare bill https://t.co/tWsanYD1ny
— New Day (@NewDay) March 10, 2017
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said earlier this week that the proposal would follow “regular order,” and that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, in both the House and Senate, would be allowed to offer amendments to it in committees and on the floor.
“We’re not jamming this down anybody’s throat,” he told reporters.
The bill sped through its two originating committees – Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce – on Thursday and has now moved onto the House Budget Committee, prompting some conservatives to urge leadership to slow down.
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), Chair of the House Rules Committee, said Wednesday of Spicer’s promise: “I will just point blank say that I would encourage Mr. Spicer if he thinks he’s going to start talking about my business to give me a darn call.”
After meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday night about the legislation, Jordan told CNN: “Right now, there’s big concerns, and I don’t think there’s the votes for this legislation.”
