Republicans have settled on a high-stakes 'now or never' ObamaCare repeal effort

Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are gambling on ObamaCare
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

One unifying goal for the Republican Party over the past seven years has been the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, but now that the GOP controls Congress and the White House, it seems the party can't agree on what to do next. With fissures between Republican moderates and various conservative factions growing wider as GOP lawmakers return from the Presidents' Day recess, where several of them got an earful from constituents, GOP leaders have come up with a new plan, The Wall Street Journal reports: "Set a bill in motion and gamble that fellow GOP lawmakers won't dare to block it."

The new push to repeal and replace ObamaCare in three stages begins this week, premised on an acknowledgment that there is no plan that will get a comfortable majority in either chamber. Assuming no Democrats back the repeal bill, Republicans can lose two senators and 22 House members, giving really any GOP faction de facto veto power. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are going to gamble on the "now or never" gambit anyway, WSJ reports, "because their entire domestic policy agenda, including a highly prized tax overhaul, rests on the health care maneuver paying off first."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.