In a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warned the more moderate Republicans in the Senate against voting for a motion to proceed on a health care bill.
“Don’t be fooled by this ruse,” Schumer told Republican senators who have opposed the deep cuts to Medicaid in the Senate replacement bill.
The minority leader acknowledged an emerging plan from Senate GOP leadership: pass a “skinny repeal” bill in the Senate that only strips a few aspects of Obamacare in order to push the Senate into a conference with the House. Schumer argued that the final bill could then make deep cuts to Medicaid and cut taxes for the wealthy, hurting millions of Americans.
He argued that voting to proceed on the bill is a “permission slip” for Republicans to gut Obamacare without a proper replacement.
