Soon after the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the draft of the Senate’s healthcare bill on Thursday, Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) blasted the bill for not fully repealing Obamacare.
Johnson told NBC News that he “would not call this Obamacare repeal,” adding that “it’s definitely not repealing Obamacare.”
“I’m just saying, I think I have a difficult time thinking, again, I’m an accountant, I’m a business guy, I know it takes time to develop this information in such a complex system, I have a hard time believing I’ll have the information prior to when leadership may want to vote on it,” Johnson reportedly said. “I would certainly say it’s trying to address and fix some of the mess, just some of the mess, created by Obamacare. But that’s my concern, I’m not sure it’s fixing enough.”
Paul, who has criticized the House’s bill, told MSNBC that “it looks like we’re keeping Obamacare” and “not repealing it.” He said he and other Senators would be releasing a more detailed statement on the matter later in afternoon.
President Donald Trump said that “a little negotiation” would be needed but the end product would “be very good.”
“Obamacare is dead and we’re putting a plan out today that is going to be negotiated,” Trump reportedly said.
Democrats have slammed McConnell for writing the bill in secrecy. Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are also trying to paint Republicans as “heartless” for supporting a bill that cuts Medicaid while giving tax breaks to “millionaires.”
McConnell reportedly wants to have a vote on the bill before July 4.
Update: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Paul, and Johnson released this statement: