Nancy Pelosi issues "emergency request" to House Dems on Obamacare repeal effort
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday called on her Democratic colleagues to mount an urgent messaging campaign against an Obamacare repeal proposal that could receive a vote in the Senate.
"It is all hands on deck to defeat the latest version of Trumpcare, Graham-Cassidy," the California Democrat said in a letter to House Democrats, calling it an "emergency request."
The bill, proposed by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina and Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, would need 51 votes to pass under the budget reconciliation process. Due to a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian, Senate Republicans have only until the end of the month -- the end of next week -- to use the obscure procedure.
"Members are strongly urged to schedule press events, roundtables or town hall meetings between now and when we return to Washington on Monday," Pelosi said. "We are hoping to have as many events as possible across the nation on Saturday, for our Day of Action."
She said that facts about the measure, compiled by former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt, were attached to the letter.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said it will release a preliminary analysis of the bill next week and the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the measure on Monday. It already faces likely opposition from at least Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and potentially from moderates like Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Pelosi encouraged her caucus to participate in a "tweet storm" on Tuesday afternoon against what she dubbed "Trumpcare."
The House is currently on recess this week to mark Rosh Hashanah and will return to Capitol Hill next week. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, has signaled that the House would take up the legislation should the Senate pass it. Under reconciliation rules, the House would not be able to amend the legislation before voting on it.
