Two more Senate Republicans have publicly back-pedaled on the push for full repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
In a radio interview, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr said “It may not be total repeal at the end of the day. . . .It may be a series of fixes over the course of this bill getting enacted that allow us to change and possibly bend that cost curve down.”
And Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) told a Nashville crowd that full repeal is “not going to happen:”
In the immediate aftermath of the reform’s passage, many of Corker’s Republican colleagues, including 2008 presidential contender Sen. John McCain, have pledged to repeal the legislation. Corker described that as unlikely, given the reality of needing 67 votes in the Senate to overcome a presidential veto of repeal legislation.
“The fact is that’s not going to happen, OK?” Corker told dozens of people at Vanderbilt University.
Still, Corker made clear his opposition to the legislation and spoke in favor of continued, incremental legislative reform in future years to correct problems he foresees.
But another Republican, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) said a Republican Congress could repeal the Affordable Care Act while avoiding a presidential veto:
The 2008 GOP presidential nominee backed a plan that would strip funding from the healthcare law, which he says would not take an override to a veto to accomplish.
“When I say repeal, people say you’re not going to be able to do it,” he said on KQTH FM Radio. “I am confident we will get majorities in both houses in the fall. And that means the power of the purse…If we cut off the money, it doesn’t take an override to a veto.”