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" House Republican leaders have a new version of their major Obamacare repeal and replacement bill. They just don’t want you to see it.
The document is being treated a bit like a top-secret surveillance intercept. It is expected to be available to members and staffers on the House and Energy Commerce panel starting Thursday, but only in a dedicated reading room, one Republican lawmaker and a committee aide said. Nobody will be given copies to take with them.
The unusual secrecy is a reflection of the sensitivity -- and the stakes -- surrounding the GOP effort to rewrite the Affordable Care Act, a top priority of President Donald Trump, who has yet to offer his own plan.
Republican leaders are trying to avoid a repeat of what happened last time. When an outdated draft leaked last week, it was quickly panned by conservatives.
“Am I for Obamacare repeal? The answer is yes,” Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, head of a conservative wing known as the Freedom Caucus, said Tuesday. “Am I for this plan? The answer is no.” Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina, who chairs the 170-member Republican Study Committee, also said he couldn’t support the leaked draft and won’t recommend his colleagues do so, either.
Republicans members have stalled so far on their efforts to find a path forward, and Trump’s address Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress didn’t offer new details.
With this latest draft, leaders are taking additional steps to make sure it doesn’t leak prematurely before some members have signed onto it.
“The draft of it is going to be available tomorrow for those of us on the health subcommittee to start pouring through,” said Representative Chris Collins of New York, a Trump ally and member of the health subcommittee of Energy and Commerce. “Unfortunately for you, we’re making sure it won’t be leaked.” "
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-01/republicans-hide-latest-obamacare-draft-under-shroud-of-secrecy
The document is being treated a bit like a top-secret surveillance intercept. It is expected to be available to members and staffers on the House and Energy Commerce panel starting Thursday, but only in a dedicated reading room, one Republican lawmaker and a committee aide said. Nobody will be given copies to take with them.
The unusual secrecy is a reflection of the sensitivity -- and the stakes -- surrounding the GOP effort to rewrite the Affordable Care Act, a top priority of President Donald Trump, who has yet to offer his own plan.
Republican leaders are trying to avoid a repeat of what happened last time. When an outdated draft leaked last week, it was quickly panned by conservatives.
“Am I for Obamacare repeal? The answer is yes,” Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, head of a conservative wing known as the Freedom Caucus, said Tuesday. “Am I for this plan? The answer is no.” Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina, who chairs the 170-member Republican Study Committee, also said he couldn’t support the leaked draft and won’t recommend his colleagues do so, either.
Republicans members have stalled so far on their efforts to find a path forward, and Trump’s address Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress didn’t offer new details.
With this latest draft, leaders are taking additional steps to make sure it doesn’t leak prematurely before some members have signed onto it.
“The draft of it is going to be available tomorrow for those of us on the health subcommittee to start pouring through,” said Representative Chris Collins of New York, a Trump ally and member of the health subcommittee of Energy and Commerce. “Unfortunately for you, we’re making sure it won’t be leaked.” "
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-01/republicans-hide-latest-obamacare-draft-under-shroud-of-secrecy