WashPost: McConnell Fast-Tracking Stalled Senate Health Bill to CBO

A new and revised version of the troubled Senate healthcare bill may be shipped off to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for review this week, The Washington Post reports.

Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists told the newspaper that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing to get a reworked bill to the CBO by Friday.

"McConnell is trying to move quickly to produce a new CBO score by the time lawmakers return to Washington in mid-July, giving the Senate about two weeks to fulfill the majority leader's goal of voting before the August recess," The Post's Paige Winfield Cunningham and Sean Sullivan write.

McConnell spokesman David Popp told the newspaper the majority leader and his aides will press on with negotiations through the end of the week and be in frequent communication with the CBO.

In addition to revisions, McConnell also will have to change the minds of Senate lawmakers who've refused to back the bill thus far.

On Tuesday, Senate leaders put off a vote on the GOP healthcare bill until after the July 4 recess amid growing opposition from Republican members. The bill was drafted in secret by a group of senators headed by McConnell.

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