House GOP Will Be Briefed On HealthCare.gov Rollout After Public Complaints

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and GOP leaders speak to reporters after a closed-door strategy session at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013. Pressure is building on fractious Republicans... Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and GOP leaders speak to reporters after a closed-door strategy session at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013. Pressure is building on fractious Republicans over legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown, as the Democratic-led Senate is expected to strip a tea party-backed plan to defund the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as "Obamacare," from their bill. Boehner originally preferred a plan to deliver to President Obama a stopgap funding bill without the provision to eliminate the health care law. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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After House Republicans complained Tuesday that they’d been left out of the loop on the problems with HealthCare.gov, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to brief the GOP conference on the bumpy launch of Obamacare’s health insurance marketplace, according to Speaker John Boehner’s office.

“It’s not clear why Republicans were excluded in the first place, but we look forward to getting answers to how the administration botched this enormous use of taxpayer dollars so badly,” Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said in a statement.

Details of the briefing are still pending. House Democrats were briefed by HHS on Wednesday morning.

The news of the Democratic briefing had prompted Boehner’s office Tuesday to request a meeting for their caucus and publicly chastise the White House for leaving them out.

“Far too much information about Obamacare’s rollout is being concealed from the public. All members — as well as the American people — deserve answers for this debacle,” Buck said in a Tuesday statement. “That’s why we have asked the administration to provide the same briefing to House Republicans. This snub is all the more offensive after Secretary Sebelius declined to testify at a House hearing this week. It’s time for the Obama administration to honor its promises of transparency and face some accountability.”

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