Free Republic

The legislation that House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Trump embraced to repeal and replace Obamacare was already being dogged by criticism from deeply conservative members in the House. But now it faces an emerging challenge: more moderate Republicans distancing themselves from the bill after the Congressional Budget Office concluded it would result in 24 million more people being uninsured than under the Affordable Care Act. Some senators are already suggesting this bill has little chance of passing in Congress’ upper chamber. But it may not get even there. An informal FiveThirtyEight count suggests two huge challenges for getting the...

Paul Ryan got what he wanted from the House Budget Committee — but also got a warning shot across the bow as well. The American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed on a narrow vote, but not before Republican conservatives offered some resistance to it. The final vote may have been a managed outcome. Kasie Hunt explains that they expected more debate today in the committee and had counted four Republicans on the panel as against the AHCA or leaning toward a no. Four Republican defections would have resulted in a tie, but a plea from the chair may have made...

Washington (CNN)House Speaker Paul Ryan tried to offer a robust defense of the House plan to repeal and replace part of Obamacare, but declined to say whether the bill could pass the House as is Wednesday. "It's not coming up this afternoon," Ryan told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead." "It's going through the legislative process. That legislative process has not been finalized. That's, no offense, that's kind of a goofy question or faulty premise because this goes through four committees. We've gone through two so far." Ryan has been under heavy criticism from conservatives and major interest groups as...