After Debate of 27 Hours, Second Committee Oks Repeal of Obamacare

Late Thursday a second committee in the House of Representatives approved the Obamacare repeal legislation from the Republican Party.

President Donald Trump used deal making skills that helped him reach the White House to build the momentum behind the bill amidst a growing worry amongst prominent GOP members that fast tracking this measure might end up backfiring.

The House’s Energy and Commerce Committee approval moved the measure to the floor of the House following a marathon hearing of 27 hours, which was hours after the Ways and Means committee spent 18 hours before approving the AHCA or American Health Care Act.

The bill is backed strongly by the White House administration and marks the first crucial legislative test of the capacity of Trump to enact his campaign agenda and could be the GOP leadership’s last hope to dismantle the proudest achievement domestically of the Barack Obama administration.

Trump’s administration is convinced it can bring skeptics of the measure around in both the House as well as Senate, one reason Trump was increasing his engagement with meetings that were high-profile with leading figures from the Republican Party involved in the debate.

Trump considers himself the top deal maker there is and he is aware of how complex this situation is, said one of the senior members of Trump’s administration. The official added that he believes Trump would be willing to make deals.

On Thursday, Trump said people should be ignoring the opposition and skeptics. Despite what you listen from the press, healthcare was coming along well, added the president.

A spokesperson for the president denied that the White House had been pushing the bill through despite the frenzied-type of atmosphere taking over Capitol Hill.

The President is not the only one pitching the measure. Paul Ryan the House Speaker gave a big defense on Thursday at a press briefing that helped promote the bill.

Ryan argued that wish list items for many of the conservatives were impractical given constraints that involved the passing of the repeal measure through the reconciliation process by the Senate that allows passage of debt and spending bills while in the process bypassing filibuster.

As Trumps turns up his campaign agenda to push the bill through, the first signs a potential deal existed emerged Thursday night following the meeting Trump held with Mick Mulvaney his budget director and two skeptical Republicans Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows.