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Here Are All The Republican Senators Who Oppose The BCRA
When Senate Republicans first introduced the Better Care Reconciliation Act last week, they had originally hoped on sweeping the bill through the Senate as quickly as possible, with several senators gunning for a vote as early as this week. However, the BCRA vote recently got pushed until after the Fourth of July recess, likely due to the fair amount of resistance the bill is currently facing from some Republican senators. So which Republican senators oppose the BCRA, and what does that mean for the health care bill?
According to Business Insider, there are currently at least nine Republican senators who are opposed to the BCRA as it's outlined now. Some believe it doesn't do enough to repeal Obamacare, while others aren't happy with the funding cuts the BCRA would dole out to Medicaid. Others want more support for specific issues — such as the opioid crisis hitting the United States — written into the bill before they support it.
There will definitely be discussions going on between Republicans to try and rally support before the Senate vote happens, so if you have concerns about the BCRA, you'll want to focus your outreach efforts on the senators who have already expressed opposition to the bill.
If the following list of senators continue to oppose the bill, the GOP won't be able to pass the BCRA in Senate, since they need at least 50 votes. That means they can only really afford to have two Republican senators vote "no" on the bill, or else the it won't garner the simple majority it needs in order to pass.
Here's a list of the senators who aren't impressed with the BCRA as it currently stands, along with links to public websites with their contact information.
- Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
- Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson
- Utah Sen. Mike Lee
- Nevada Sen. Dean Heller
- Maine Sen. Susan Collins
- Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran
- West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito
- Ohio Sen. Rob Portman
According to The New York Times, there are only 17 senators who have fully supported the bill (all Republicans). Another 25 Republican senators haven't made their opinion clear either way, and 10 Republicans will not support the bill until further changes are made to it. A full 48 Democrats stand in solid opposition to the bill.
Now's the time to make your views on the BCRA absolutely clear to the senators who represent you. If you're worried about the effects the BCRA could have on families across the United States, take advantage of the delay in voting and reach out to Republican senators who are on the fence to make your views known.