Yesterday evening, two more Republican Senators– Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas– jointly announced their opposition to the Senate healthcare bill that was being push forward by the Republican leadership. Their statements increased the number of Senate Republicans opposing the bill to four, with Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky being the other two. With all Democrats opposed to the bill, the announcements from Lee and Moran have forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to abandon his plans on the bill.
Last evening, Leader McConnell announced that, as a result, he will pursue a straight repeal of the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) with the repeal kicking in after two years to allow, in theory, lawmakers and the White House to draft and implement a new plan to prevent individuals from losing coverage. It remains to be seen how much support such a strategy has.