On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act, a bill that, if it becomes law, will largely dismantle Obamacare. This seemingly unpopular act (in March, a poll found that only 17 percent of Americans support it) was passed with a 217-213 vote. No Democrats voted for it, and 20 Republicans voted against it.
Democrats even began to sing, “Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye,” to Republicans after the vote, confident that Republicans will face harsh consequences from constituents for passing a bill that will cause millions to lose their health care.
But even though the bill still has to pass the Senate, Republicans still see the half-passed bill as a huge win. After a humiliating defeat a little over a month ago, when the party failed to get enough votes for the first version of the AHCA, Republicans think they’re getting close to delivering on one of President Trump’s biggest campaign promises. And they’re already partying—Trump delayed going back to NYC Thursday in order to celebrate the bill’s passage in the House, The Washington Post reports.
“Make no mistake, this is a repeal and a replace of the Affordable Care Act. It’s dead,” Trump said at the celebratory press conference. At one point, he turned to those behind him at the press conference and said, “Hey, I’m president! I’m president! Can you believe it?”
I don’t know, can we?