Top GOP senator admits it's 'unlikely' Republicans will pass health care this year

Republican Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.) on Thursday offered a less than heartening assessment of his party's chances of passing a health-care bill. "It's unlikely that we will get a health-care deal," Burr told North Carolina news station WXII 12 News, per The Wall Street Journal. "I don't see a comprehensive health-care plan this year."

Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, added that the version of the American Health Care Act that passed the House last month was "not a good plan" and was "dead on arrival." Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-Ky.) also evinced concerns about the bill, saying, "I don't know how we get to [50 votes] at the moment, but that's the goal."

A group of Republican senators set about rewriting the health-care bill immediately after its passage in the House. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) has promised a health plan will pass the upper chamber by "the end of July as the latest." Read more about Republicans' health-care struggles here at The Week.

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