Politics: Senate Republicans delay vote on healthcare bill until after July 4 recess

Republican leaders announced unexpectedly on Tuesday afternoon that they would delay the Senate's vote on the GOP healthcare bill until after the July 4 recess.

Senate Republican leaders announced unexpectedly on Tuesday afternoon that they would delay the body's vote on the GOP healthcare bill until after the July 4 recess, multiple news outlets have confirmed.

The decision came after key Republican senators came out against the draft bill following the Congressional Budget Office report that 22 million Americans would lose health insurance as a result of the controversial legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's move to delay the vote comes after at least five senators, both from the conservative and moderate wings of the party, publicly said they would not support a key procedural vote to allow the bill to advance to debate.

Moderate members Susan Collins and Dean Heller said they would not vote to advance the bill due to concerns regarding the decreased funding for Medicaid and the dismal CBO score. Conservative Sens. Rand Paul, Ron Johnson, and Mike Lee also said they were against moving the bill because they did not believe it went far enough in its repeal of Obamacare.

The divisions made it difficult for McConnell to find a pathway to amend the bill and win over enough members to even get the bill to the floor debate.

Multiple news outlets reported that the Senate GOP leadership plans to rewrite the bill over the recess and re-submit the bill to the CBO for a new score. The large loss of coverage and high costs projected in the CBO report released Monday drew swift condemnation from healthcare groups and Democrats, and even some Republican members expressed concern.

McConnell originally hoped to be done with the bill before the weeklong July 4 recess in order to avoid prolonged public scrutiny similar to the House's American Health Care Act, which endured two false starts before passing in May.

President Donald Trump has reportedly invited Republican senators to the White House on Tuesday at 4 pm to discuss the bill.

Bob Bryan contributed to this report.

Republican leaders announced unexpectedly on Tuesday afternoon that they would delay the Senate's vote on the GOP healthcare bill until after the July 4 recess. Read Full Story