In a major move on the GOP effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, the conservative Freedom Caucus of the House of Representatives has announced its endorsement of the latest bill after New Jersey Republican Tom MacArthur introduced substantive changes.
The Freedom Caucus was a key voice against the bill introduced by the Republican leadership last month, causing House Speaker Paul Ryan to pull the bill from consideration. But since Ryan’s failure to pass the bill, Republicans have been negotiating amendments to make it more attractive to conservatives.
Days ago House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) told Breitbart News that he expected an Obamacare repeal bill to pass by the end of May, and now the group has announced its support of the newest measure.
The group said in a Wednesday press release:
Over the past couple of months, House conservatives have worked tirelessly to improve the American Health Care Act (AHCA) to make it better for the American people. Due to improvements to the AHCA and the addition of Rep. Tom MacArthur’s proposed amendment, the House Freedom Caucus has taken an official position in support of the current proposal.
The MacArthur amendment will grant states the ability to repeal cost driving aspects of Obamacare left in place under the original AHCA. While the revised version still does not fully repeal Obamacare, we are prepared to support it to keep our promise to the American people to lower healthcare costs. We look forward to working with our Senate colleagues to improve the bill. Our work will continue until we fully repeal Obamacare.
Liberals in the U.S. Senate have vowed to oppose any moves to change Obamacare. New Jersey Democrat Senator Chris Murphy’s reaction was representative of that sentiment when he called the Republican bill a “dumpster fire” early in March.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.