House Republicans wanted to help push through healthcare reform during President Donald Trump's first 100 days, but coming back next week to finish it is "no big deal," Rep. Dave Brat said Friday.
"That was in play a little bit," the Virginia Republican acknowledged on Fox News'
"America's Newsroom" program. "There was no vote scheduled, just to be clear. Friday and Saturday you have scheduling conflicts for 400 people back home . . . the only big deal was we wanted to hit Trump's 100-day thing, but it is more important to get the policy straight."
Further, Democrats weighed in and threatened a government shutdown if the heatlhcare vote occurred as a spending bill vote loomed for Friday, Brat said.
"If you follow the democratic process and vote, we won't give you a budget," Brat said, describing the threat from Democrats. "It doesn't get too much more ridiculous than that."
Brat said he is confident that there will be enough votes to pass the reform measure, but there are still some lawmakers weighing the bill.
"There is some nervousness about preexisting conditions," Brat said. "The state gets the choice to opt out and people would have to lose coverage."
Obamacare, though, paid attention to coverage rather than costs, and that's why it's now "in the ditch," Brat said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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