Senate Dems to hold late-night protest over ObamaCare repeal
Senate Democrats are planning to hold a late-night talkathon Monday to protest the GOP’s effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
Democrats are expected to speak from the Senate floor until at least midnight protesting the GOP plan — which is still being hashed out — amid Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold a public hearing, according to a Senate aide.
The late-night speeches, which are being organized by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), comes as Democrats are under growing pressure to grind the Senate to a halt as the fight over ObamaCare’s fate enters a key two-week stretch.
Indivisible, a progressive advocacy group, is urging its members to ask Democratic senators to “resist through procedure” by blocking routine committee hearings or filibustering on the Senate floor.
“Your Senator can slow the Senate down to a crawl and focus attention to TrumpCare by withholding his or her consent on legislative business,” according to the group’s June action plan for stopping the GOP healthcare bill.
{mosads}Center for American Progress’s Topher Spiro made a similar suggestion earlier this month, saying blue-state constituents could “ask Dem Senators to boycott all non-essential (non-Russia) hearings until there’s a public hearing on Trumpcare.”
Democrats have previously used all-night floor speeches paired with social media to try to build public support for their opposition to a policy or President Trump nominee.
Democratic leadership hasn’t publicly backed bringing the Senate floor to a halt as part of the ObamaCare repeal fight, but members are weighing the strategy, according to CNN.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is a member of Senate Democratic leadership, told CNN on Sunday, “I believe Democrats should do everything they can to oppose that legislation in any way that we can.”
Democrats could invoke the “two-hour rule,” which would automatically prevent any Senate committees from meeting after the Senate had been in session for two hours. They could also drag out Senate floor procedures by objecting to routine requests on votes.
Senate Republicans are wanting to vote on their healthcare legislation this summer, as early as the end of this month but before late July when they leave for the August recess.
Republicans have a narrow path to getting a deal on their healthcare bill. They hold 52 seats, meaning they can lose two GOP senators and still pass a bill with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a tie.
No Democrats are expected to support the repeal effort, but Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has requested an all-Senate meeting this week to discuss the GOP’s legislation.
They also introduced legislation last week that would block Republicans from passing ObamaCare repeal under reconciliation — a fast-track process that allows it to pass with a simple majority — without at least one public hearing.
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