House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Wednesday night placed blame on the Senate for Congress’ failure to pass Obamacare repeal or any other major legislation so far this year, arguing that the House has done its job.
Ryan noted that the House has passed more than 300 bills, including legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare, but that most of those bills have yet to move in the Senate. The House did pass a bill to repeal Obamacare, but only after its first attempt failed before reaching the floor. It’s also not clear that the House would have approved any final legislation passed by the Senate, knowing it would head straight to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The speaker said that the Senate is hamstrung by its need to confirm Trump’s nominees and by its filibusters, which Ryan has advocated eliminating.
“Of course I’d like to see them do majority votes on these things,” Ryan said. “They don’t have the votes there for it, that’s the flat-simple answer.”
Watch Ryan’s interview with Hannity via Fox News:
