Mixed Bag of Republicans Vote Against Obamacare Repeal Vehicle
GOP defectors cite deficit, lack of replacement
House Republicans on Friday passed a bare-bones fiscal 2017 budget resolution with few intraparty defections, as most GOP members saw the unbalanced and long-delayed spending plan as a necessary means to an end of repealing the 2010 health care law.
The nine Republicans who voted against the measure raised concerns about either the budget not balancing, a key priority for fiscal conservatives, or the aggressive timeline of repealing the Affordable Care Act, given that the GOP has yet to present a replacement plan. The final vote was 227-198.
Majority Whip Steve Scalise told reporters the defections were fewer than GOP vote counters had anticipated.”This is a signal that we are very serious about what we’ve campaigned on for years,” the Louisiana Republican said.
Among those voting “no” were four members of the moderate Tuesday Group — Charlie Dent and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, John Katko of New York and Tom MacArthur of New Jersey — and two members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, Justin Amash of Michigan and Raul Labrador of Idaho. The other three GOP “no” votes came from North Carolina Rep. Walter B. Jones, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and California Rep. Tom McClintock, all of whom are conservatives but not members of the Freedom Caucus.
No Democrats voted for the resolution.
