80 health-care protesters arrested on Capitol Hill

(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

published 10 July 2017

By 4:30 p.m. ET Monday, U.S. Capitol Police had arrested a total of 80 people as health-care protests raged on Capitol Hill. Arrests were made in both House and Senate office buildings. Capitol Police said in a statement that the arrests were made after demonstrators were warned "to cease and desist their unlawful demonstration activities" and "refused."

CNN reported that protesters were holding signs that read, "Save our lives, kill the bill" and "Come out and talk to us." Some apparently laid down on the ground outside of Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) office, "blocking foot traffic, forcing Capitol Police officers to carry them down the hall," CNN said.

Lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Monday to hunker down on churning out a revised plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Senate Republican leadership was eyeing a vote before the Fourth of July recess, but failed to solidify enough support. Senate Republicans are now planning to release a revised version of the GOP-backed health-care plan Thursday, get a new CBO score of the bill by next Monday, and hold a vote next week.