Senate Republicans are back on track for a health-care vote in June


On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell formally began a process to bypass committee hearings and send a Senate Republican health-care bill directly to the floor for a vote by the July 4 recess, Tierney Sneed reports at Talking Points Memo. Republicans are writing their version of the House GOP's American Health Care Act in secret, and they emerged from a meeting on Tuesday more optimistic that they will have a plan that can attract at least 50 of 52 Republican votes, enough to pass the bill under budget reconciliation rules. On Tuesday, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wy.) said that the Senate parliamentarian cleared the House version of the AHCA to be considered under reconciliation, removing one obstacle for Republicans.
Senate Republicans plan to submit a preliminary framework of their health-care plan to the Congressional Budget Office by the end of the week, which would allow a floor vote by the end of June, Politico reports. If they pass a health-care bill, it would be merged with the House version in a conference committee, and both chambers would have to vote again on the package that emerged. There was some speculation that McConnell would put up a vote on a bill he thought would fail, just to move on to other legislative priorities, but Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said no, "he sure as hell doesn't want to do that." Republicans are "in the back seat with Thelma and Louise and we need to get out of the car," he said. "So details matter, but we need to get out of the car. That was the pre-eminent message."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
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.
-
Can Trump put his tariffs on stronger legal footing?
Today's Big Question Appeals court says 'emergency' tariffs are improper
-
Film reviews: The Roses, Splitsville, and Twinless
Feature A happy union devolves into domestic warfare, a couple's open marriage reaps chaos, and an unlikely friendship takes surprising turns
-
Thought-provoking podcasts you may have missed this summer
The Week Recommends Check out a true crime binger, a deep-dive into history and more
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed 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 Intel
Speed 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 China
Speed 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 Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year