The repeal is a repeat failure.
A bill to repeal Obamacare without a replacement died in a Senate vote Wednesday — giving Republicans their second health care loss in the 24 hours since they scraped by in a vote to keep the effort going.
The Senate voted the bill down, 55-45, with seven Republicans and all 47 Democrats rejecting it.
Republicans who voted one day prior to keep working on a new health care bill — including John McCain of Arizona, Dean Heller of Nevada and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia — joined the opposition against the straight repeal bill.
That came after an amended version of a repeal-and-replace bill was shot down Tuesday night in a 57-43 vote, with nine Republicans opposing it.
The dual defeats show the long struggle Republicans still face after barely prevailing in a vote to trudge forward on health care legislation.
The Senate tied 50-50 Tuesday in a vote about whether to keep debating legislation for a new health care system. Vice President Pence cast a tiebreaking vote in favor of further debate, but that only began another battle over what the bills will be.
The Senate has been mulling over two beleaguered bills proposing alternatives to former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
One calls for a repeal and replacement of Obamacare, while the other mandates a repeal with an unspecified replacement to be determined sometime in the future.
Both bills have failed to win unanimous support from the Republican Party, which has campaigned for seven years on promises to kill Obamacare.
President Trump made replacing the policy a cornerstone of his campaign.
Congressional Budget Office estimates on all of the GOP bills considered so far have found that each would deprive more than 20 million Americans of health insurance over the next 10 years. The straight repeal would do the most damage, zapping coverage for 32 million Americans, the budget office said.
With neither option going anywhere, the Senate is now pondering a third choice: Drafting a so-called “skinny” repeal, which would cut some of Obamacare’s much-maligned mandates and taxes but leave the law largely intact.
That idea is likely to hit roadblocks, too, since some Republicans have bickered about earlier bills not going far enough to dismantle Obamacare.
Trump has repeatedly chided his fellow Republicans to pass a bill before the Senate’s August recess — which starts in less than a week.
Some Senate Republicans appeared distraught over the hectic schedule since the debates began.
“We’ve got to have a more organized process,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Minn.) said. “We just don’t have the courage and really the intestinal fortitude to suck it up and … do this right.”
Late Wednesday, an amendment committing to help states expand Medicaid for the poor garnered only 10 GOP votes.
Democrats refused to vote for any amendment to a bill they have not read, and the vote primarily highlighted deep divisions within the Republican Party.
With News Wire Services
