Senate Budget Committee Chairman Michael Enzi (R-WY) released an FY17 budget resolution (https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/sconres3/BILLS-115sconres3pcs.pdf) this week that includes reconciliation instructions (Title II) that will allow Congress to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The Senate voted 51 to 48 to proceed with consideration of the budget resolution. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) joined Democrats in trying to block the measure, but for different reasons. Paul, a fiscal conservative, said he couldn’t support a budget outline that calls for ever-rising deficits. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) did not vote.
The measure includes reconciliation instructions that require two House committees (Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means) and two Senate committees (Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) to submit changes in law to reduce the deficit by not less than $1B for FY17-FY26 to their respective Budget Committees by January 27, 2017. The reconciliation process allows the Senate to approve legislation by a simple majority vote, instead of the 60-vote threshold normally required under Senate rules.
A floor vote on the budget resolution is expected in the Senate next week (late Wednesday or early Thursday). Enzi expects three days of debate followed by a “vote-a-rama,” which is expected to begin at 5 pm on Wednesday.
There is still no consensus among Republicans on what a replacement for Obamacare would like or how it would be phased in. It is also unclear if Republicans want to repeal the entire law or if they will try to preserve some of the more popular provisions. And they may consider retaining some of the law’s taxes that could be needed to finance any replacement plan.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) confirmed this week that the repeal measure would include a provision to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood. This may cause some problems in the 52 Republican to 48 Democrat Senate as Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) offered an amendment to the 2015 reconciliation bill to continue funding for Planned Parenthood. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has also expressed concerns about defunding Planned Parenthood as she is a longtime support of Planned Parenthood and has opposed broadly defunding the organization. Finally, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) indicated this week that he wants a replacement measure before voting on repeal. If these three Senate Republicans and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) join all Senate Democrats in voting against the reconciliation measure it will not have the 50 votes needed for passage.
After meeting with House Republicans, Vice President-Elect Mike Pence said Trump’s staff is preparing executive orders related to the health care law, but he declined to offer any details. Pence also set an ambitious timeline, with a goal of getting repeal legislation to Trump’s desk by February 20. They hope to pass the budget resolution needed for the reconciliation measure by January 20.