Kentucky Republican changes his vote from 'no' to 'hell no' on GOP health-care proposal
The House Republican leadership is planning to forge ahead with a Thursday floor vote on the American Health Care Act, the party's proposed health-care bill to replace ObamaCare. As of Wednesday afternoon, the bill is facing long odds in the lower chamber, with more than two dozen GOP members — mostly from the far-right House Freedom Caucus — stating their intention to vote against the bill.
The White House has remained optimistic about the bill's passage, with Press Secretary Sean Spicer saying during Wednesday's press briefing that "member by member, we're seeing tremendous support flow in our direction." Despite the mounting defections, "the count keeps getting stronger for us," Spicer insisted.
Mere hours after Spicer's Wednesday briefing, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) tweeted this:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Republicans can only afford to lose 22 votes in the lower chamber if they want to push the American Health Care Act through. If the bill does pass the House on Thursday, it will move onto the Senate — where it also faces a steep uphill battle.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
Did Alex Pretti’s killing open a GOP rift on guns?Talking Points Second Amendment groups push back on White House narrative
-
The 8 best hospital dramas of all timethe week recommends From wartime period pieces to of-the-moment procedurals, audiences never tire of watching doctors and nurses do their lifesaving thing
-
‘Implementing strengthened provisions help advance aviation safety’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump HHS slashes advised child vaccinationsSpeed Read In a widely condemned move, the CDC will now recommend that children get vaccinated against 11 communicable diseases, not 17
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
