The U.S. Senate is beginning its morning business meeting and is scheduled to quickly take up a measure that could lead to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The procedural vote is called a motion to proceed, which if passed—it requires just 51 votes—would allow the Senate to begin debate and ultimately take a final vote on a health care bill. There has been a lot of confusion over just what that bill might look like, but there’s been one positive sign Tuesday morning that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has the votes to at least proceed with debate.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who is still recovering from the removal of a blood clot and was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, has made the trip back to Washington, D.C., to be on hand for the vote.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has been adding pressure on Republican senators to pass a bill, noting they have been promising a full repeal of Obamacare for more than seven years. In case you missed it, he made a national address Monday afternoon, appearing with American families who are being devastated by the existing health care law.
“To every member of the Senate, I say this: The American people have waited long enough,” he said. “There’s been enough talk and no action. Now is the time for action. We are here to solve problems for the people. Obamacare has broken our health care system—it’s broken, it’s collapsing, it’s gone. And now it is up to us to get great health care for the American people. We must repeal and replace Obamacare now.”
The president also offered senators Monday night three options for quickly repealing Obamacare.
You can watch the activities on the floor of the Senate in the livestream above. The vote is tentatively scheduled to take place around 2:15 p.m. EDT, but extensive debate is planned ahead of that. {eoa}
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