GOP Lawmakers Have Lot Of Explaining To Do Back Home About O'care Debacle
By ALICE OLLSTEIN Published APRIL 10, 2017, 6:00 AM EDT
Tierney Sneed contributed reporting.
Congressional Republicans had originally intended to return to their districts for the April recess riding high on the victory of fulfilling their years-long promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Instead, they are returning empty-handed, and will spend the next two weeks inundated by frustrated constituents from all sides of the political spectrum, forced to explain why they haven't been able to pass a bill—or even finish writing one—despite control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.
"It's not the best spot to be in," Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) admitted to TPM last week. "We are the governing majority, and they kind of expect us to say, 'This is what we plan to do.' It will be reasonable and understandable if my constituents demonstrate a level of frustration when I come back."
On their last day in session before recess, on Thursday, House Republicans unveiled yet another major tweak to the health care bill, rushed it through a committee markup, and tried to treat it as a major step on the road to passing a health care bill.
"Everybody likes to see some progress," Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) told TPM the day the amendment was introduced, just before leaving Washington. "I've always been very open with my district about where we're at, but this gives me another talking point."
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