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The very good news out of Congress this morning is that negotiators hammered out a government funding deal over the weekend that doesn't do awful things to anyone—it's a very, very good deal for Democrats. The bad news in this agreement is that it leaves time for House Speaker Paul Ryan to get another shot at passing Zombie Trumpcare this week. Yes, still. Again. They have another week-long recess coming up next week—yes, again—and want to get this done before heading out of town on Thursday.
Some senior Republicans and White House officials are advising Ryan (R-Wis.) and his top lieutenants to cancel the recess if needed, and to keep the House in session until they have the votes.
"I think they could have voted on Friday," President Donald Trump said in a Sunday interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" to discuss his first 100 days in office. "I said, 'Just relax. Don't worry about this phony 100 day thing. Just relax. Take it easy. Take your time. Get the good vote and make it perfect.'"
"I think health care reform, repealing and replacing Obamacare is just around the corner,” Vice President Mike Pence added on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think we’re close.”
While Trump and the White House have been overly optimistic before about repealing Obamacare, senior House Republicans agree with them this time.
“We’re very close," Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
House Republicans are hell-bent on ripping away our health insurance. Call your member of Congress at 202-224-3121, and demand they vote NO on a renewed Trumpcare that is worse than the one before. Remind them they work for you.
Those who weren't spending the weekend working out budget deals were working the phones to get swing-state Republicans—the so-called moderates—onboard. That included Vice President Mike Pence who has been leaning hard on the moderates. The ones who have been promising all along that they would keep protections for people with pre-existing conditions, a promise they will break if they vote for this one. It's got all the bad stuff of the original Trumpcare (though it's Planned Parenthood defunding is at odds with the short-term budget bill they have agreed to) plus ending pre-existing conditions. The 24 million people who'd lose insurance in the next decade under the first version of the bill? That's going to be an optimistic estimate if this new version passes. But the Congressional Budget Office probably won't get the bill scored this week before a potential floor vote, so Republicans can pretend ignorance about the full extent of the damage they're going to do.
Ryan wants to get this done before his members leave for another week of town meetings, because they don't want their member facing their enraged constituents and being pressured by the people they supposedly represent. Which means we have just a few days to flood them with phone calls to finally drive a stake through the heart of this monster.