A sizable portion of Republican senators are banking on the House of Representatives not passing the party's healthcare proposal so they won't have to, The Hill reports.
An anonymous GOP senator told the Hill that Senate support for the bill has "disintegrated," and that unless significant changes are made, changes that conservatives won't back, moderate Republicans won't vote for it.
"I've heard that maybe the best thing is that this doesn't get out of the House so we're not the ones who ditch it," the senator said. "Right now this is disintegrating in the Senate, with everyone off on their own about what they don't like about the bill."
Democrats are expected to uniformly oppose the bill. Twenty-two House Republicans could kill the measure and FiveThirtyEight reports "at least 16 plausible defections."
The senator added that Republicans are fearful of a backlash similar to the one against Democrats after the Affordable Care Act passed.
"It's tough to vote for policy that hurts people," the senator said.
Another unnamed GOP senator said, "There are no good options." Republicans vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare, but their efforts to fulfill this promise quickly could be their undoing.
"The best thing may be to kill it early so it doesn't come over here," the senator added. "One option may be for it to fail and for Obamacare to continue to implode so that it drives us."
A third anonymous Republican senator said, "I think it's better if it does not come out of the House in its current form."
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