Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she hasn't seen her party's health-care bill because she's 'not a reporter' or 'lobbyist'
The Senate's health-care bill was written in such secrecy that as of Thursday morning, even many Republicans had not yet laid their eyes on the actual text. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) briefed the White House staff on the bill's details Wednesday, the actual document is only set to be made public Thursday.
Democrats have issued scathing statements condemning the Republicans for their closed-door tactics, but even some Republicans are feeling their patience splinter. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) issued a sarcastic answer to the Independent Journal Review's Haley Byrd after being asked if she'd seen the text:
"As the Senate prepares to finally loop in the American public, already several news reports from outlets like The Washington Post and Politico have published what they're hearing is in the bill," Vox writes. "They are all sourced to lobbyists and aides."
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.
Along with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Murkowski is one of the Republicans' sharpest critics of the health-care bill, and her vote could be critical in deciding if it passes or not. In anticipation of pressure from the White House, she told Politico that if the bill "doesn't work for Alaska, it doesn't make any difference who's calling me."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
AI agents: When bots browse the webfeature Letting robots do the shopping
-
Will Chuck Schumer keep his job?Today's Big Question Democrats are discontented and pointing a finger at the Senate leader
-
Dick Cheney: the vice president who led the War on Terrorfeature Cheney died this month at the age of 84
-
US mints final penny after 232-year runSpeed Read Production of the one-cent coin has ended
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
