The House Ways and Means (W&M) Committee finished their portion of the Republican ACA repeal measure around 4:30 am this morning. The Committee approved their marked up draft by a vote of 23-16. The panel worked through the night, with Republicans overcoming Democratic protests that the process was rushed and the bill would force Americans to lose insurance coverage.
The House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee continues to mark up their section of the measure — 23 and a half hours as of this posting. Watch the hearing live here. For both committees, it has been an exercise in procedural maneuvering , particularly for E&C. To wit, it took E&C 12 hours to debate and then vote on the first amendment offered to the bill, which came from Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NY), to rename the bill “Republican Pay More for Less Care Act”. It failed along party lines. They are still working, and Democrats have asserted the they have “hundreds” of amendments.
During the week of March 13, the House Budget Committee is expected to package the W&M language with provisions from the E&C. The House will vote on the combined measure later in the week.