House Freedom Caucus will not oppose Obamacare repeal en bloc

WASHINGTON — The conservative House Freedom Caucus has decided not to vote as a bloc to oppose the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, a decision that could pave the way for the legislation to pass the House this week.

“We’re not taking any official positions,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told reporters Monday. “I’m going to encourage them to vote for their constituents.”

"We made a decision not to [take a position]; obviously we were negotiating in good faith. Obviously we've come out, we've taken positions on what we're for and to take a position against a bill creates some dynamics within the group that perhaps we don't want to create," he said later Monday.

Members of the group had previously raised concerns about the House bill, saying it wasn’t conservative enough and threatening to vote against it. Because no Democrats are expected to vote for the bill, Republicans can lose the votes of only about 20 of their members and still pass the bill. The Freedom Caucus has about three dozen members; if they voted as a bloc against the bill, they could have killed it in the House.

But just because they were given the OK to vote however they chose didn’t mean everyone was ready to vote yes. Several Freedom Caucus members, including Meadows, said late Monday they still expect most of the group will vote "no."

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"I think we still have major concerns with this bill," Meadows said after the Freedom Caucus met for their weekly meeting

If there aren't many major changes to the bill "that means the bill is going to fail," said Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho. "I'm confident."

"None of my concerns have been addressed as far as I know so my position hasn't changed," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa. "I'm a 'no' unless it changes."

“Right now I haven’t been able to get to yes yet,” Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., told reporters Monday.

Franks, who had just left a meeting with Vice President Pence and other anti-abortion lawmakers, said his main concerns were ensuring anti-abortion provisions stayed in the legislation and getting rid of insurance regulations.

The White House said in a statement that in that meeting, "Vice President Pence reaffirmed his and President Trump's ongoing commitment to protecting the lives of the unborn."

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Last week, Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., chairman of the Republican Study Committee, another conservative group in the House, announced he had decided to vote for the legislation after a meeting with Trump and other conservatives at the White House.

Trump said he backed a few conservative changes, including the option to provide Medicaid block grants and a work requirement for Medicaid recipients who are “able-bodied and without dependents.”

On Monday night, House Republican leaders introduced an amendment that incorporates the promised changes, including the provisions on Medicaid.

“We intend to have it up, prepared, so people can see it,” said Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas. Sessions chairs the Rules Committee, which will take up the bill Wednesday and vote to move it to the floor.

When Sessions was asked whether Freedom Caucus members supported the amendment, he said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up passing the bill.”

“There are several groups where it addresses their concerns; that’s why we’re doing this,” he said.

Meadows wasn't so sure.

"I'm confident that we still have enough concerns that a vote of 216 votes in the House would not happen today. That's not to say that there's obviously a whole lot of discussions that are going on," he added referring to the number it takes to get a bill to pass the House.

Even if Republicans round up enough support to pass the bill in the House, they still could have a hard time passing it in the Senate. Republicans enjoy only a 52-48 majority there, and several Republican senators have already come out in opposition to the bill, including Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who has argued it does not go far enough to repeal Obamacare. Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have also criticized the bill in its current form, the three of them attended the Freedom Caucus meeting Monday.

"This is our long-awaited chance to finally get rid of Obamacare," Trump said Monday night at a rally in Kentucky. "I happen to like — a lot —Sen. Rand Paul. I look forward to working with him so we can get this bill passed — in some form," so that Republicans can move on to overhauling the tax system.

Thursday's vote is a key first step, Trump said, but then, "We're going to negotiate, and it is going to go to the Senate, and back and forth."