After Republican leaders in the House unveiled changes to the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare on Monday night, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) indicated that at least some of the members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus were on board with the legislation.
Ryan’s comment came as members of the Freedom Caucus said they believe they still have enough votes to block leadership’s bill. However, the caucus did not take an official position on the bill, leaving wiggle room for its members to vote for the legislation.
“I’ve spoken with a lot of Freedom Caucus members who are voting for it,” Ryan told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Monday night.
Ryan noted that some members of the Freedom Caucus have already voted for the bill in committee, and said that additions to the bill, like the ability for governors to impose work requirements on some Medicaid recipients, had wooed additional conservative members.
The speaker said that the House has made “tremendous progress” with the legislation, and said that he hopes the Senate will make additional changes.
“If senators can make improvements to this bill, without jeopardizing what we call the Byrd Rule, meaning a filibuster, that’s great. We want them to improve this bill if they can,” Ryan told Hannity.
