Senator Rand Paul took to the Sunday talk shows again this week to discuss the fate of Senate Health care bill 2.0., and in news that will surprise almost no one who’s been following along, the conservative Kentucky senator said Sunday on Fox and Friends that he doesn't think Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has the votes to pass the healthcare bill in its current form, according to the Hill.
The Senate will "defer" its work on repealing and replacing Obamacare Majority leader Mitch McConnell said late on Saturday, as John McCain, 80, recovers from surgery to remove a blood clot above his eye Reuters reports. The health care reform bill, which is already neared collapse as senators Rand Paul and Susan Collins have already said they would oppose it, would fail without McCain's vote. With Democrats united in opposition, McConnell needs support from at least 50 out of 52 Republicans to pass the measure in the 100-member chamber.
While no one has seen the Senate's revised healthcare bill as of yet, early indications suggest that it will include a version of a controversial amendment from Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) that has become a sticking point in the negotiations. Among other things, the amendment would allow insurers to sell plans that do not meet ObamaCare regulations if they also sell a plan that does meet those rules.
Called the "Consumer Freedom Amendment," we highlighted the main points of the Cruz/Lee proposal last month:
The dollar was broadly weaker after dovish comments from Fed Governor Lael Brainard amid reverberations from reports of Donald Trump Jr.’s contact with a Russian lawyer; European equities rebounded with oil while S&P futures were 0.2% higher at 2,428; Treasury yields are 1-2bps lower across the curve with the 10y at 2.346% ahead of Yellen’s much anticipated testimony this morning (House today, Senate tomorrow) for further clues on the trajectory of monetary policy while the Bank of Canada is expected to hike rates later.
It just got serious.
With Trump buried in domestic scandals, it was virtually certain that in the handful of days left before Congress takes its summer recess, there was zero chance that either Obamacare repeal or Trump's tax plan could make any headway in the Senate, prompting many to ask if the Senate would cancel or at least delay its summer break.