The GOP's long-sought desire to repeal Obamacare is expected to actually take its first practical step early Thursday morning in a process that remains unclear, Politico reported on Wednesday.
Republicans plan to pass a Senate budget that sets in motion reconciliation, a procedure that protects bills that affect federal spending or taxes from the 60-vote filibuster so they can be passed through Congress by a simple majority.
The GOP already enacted this procedure last Congress in connection to Obamacare, but President Barack Obama vetoed it. With President-elect Donald Trump entering the White House on Jan. 20, that will no longer be a problem.
Even with the budget clearing the Senate and House through this procedure, a repeal does not become law. This action only sets reconciliation in motion.
After that, lawmakers will have to write a bill to repeal Obamacare, which could happen by the end of this month, according to Politico.
However, some Republicans want to delay the procedure to provide more time to come up with a replacement.
Many congressmen are fearful that repealing the health law without having another system ready could cause chaos, leave some 30 million Americans without health insurance and potentially undermine the broader U.S. economy.
On Tuesday, reacting to the uneasiness of some GOP leaders about repealing Obama's signature health-care law without details on what would replace it, the New York Post reported that House Speaker Paul Ryan promised: "It is our goal to bring it all together concurrently… to replace concurrent along with repeal, so that we can save people from this mess" and ensure "there is a stable transition period so that people do not have the rug pulled out from under them."
But completely replacing Obamacare would require legislation that doesn't touch on budgetary matters and must be done outside of the reconciliation process, meaning some Democrats would have to vote for it to to get over the Senate's 60-vote filibuster threshold.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed, however, that Democrats won't help Republicans take away health insurance from millions, leaving the entire process very much uncertain.
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