Rep. Charlie Dent on Thursday lamented what he described as “artificial deadlines” the GOP is trying to impose to pass its law repealing parts of Obamacare, saying he’s not sure why there seems to be such a “mad dash” when the Senate is likely to rewrite the House bill anyway.
“I feel that there’s been too much of a focus on arbitrary timelines, artificial deadlines - all to improve the budget baseline,” Mr. Dent, , Pennsylvania Republican, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “We’re talking about the health care for millions of Americans here and I think that has to be our focus.”
“I never quite understood the mad rush,” he said.
“What I believe the…plan is [is] send this bill over to the Senate so the Senate can rewrite it and then tell us what’s in it and send it back to us,” he said.
“It seems that we are surrendering much of our legislating authority over to the Senate at this point, and I think it’s important that we get this right rather than get it done fast,” he said.
Mr. Dent said he hasn’t done a whip count, but that he suspects Republicans are “probably a little short” ahead of a possible vote later Thursday.
“We all know the Senate’s going to overhaul this, so I’m not sure why there is this mad dash,” he said.
Mr. Dent, who announced his opposition to the American Health Care Act on Wednesday, is a leader in the “Tuesday Group,” a coalition of moderate House Republicans.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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