Republicans insist they have a plan to deal with affordability issues. The problem is, if you ask 15 Republicans in Congress what that plan looks like — as MS NOW did this week — you’re likely to get 15 different answers.
For most Republicans, the responses were divided into two camps: a new health care bill or the reconciliation package Republicans passed over the summer.
Conservatives have pushed for a partisan follow-up to the reconciliation bill, pointing to proposals on health care and housing. But other Republicans are urging leaders to more vigorously sell voters on the tax cuts already enacted in July.
When pressed for a specific plan on affordability, however, no GOP lawmaker was able to point to a fully formed proposal — at least, not a single proposal.
Asked if there was a Republican plan on affordability, Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s answer was “Hell yeah!”
“There are three of them,” the Wisconsin Republican continued. But Van Orden declined to provide specifics, saying they’d been discussed in “private meetings where we negotiate things.”
Among the wide range of answers, some Republicans were optimistic that an outline will emerge. Others said they’re frustrated that there isn’t one yet.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said a GOP proposal is “in progress.” Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said negotiators are “making headway.” And Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said Republicans “could do it tomorrow” — if they could just find a way to pass their ideas through both chambers.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., was less optimistic. She said Republicans “have to have more conversations and actually get something to the floor,” particularly on health care.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that Obamacare is actually gaining in popularity because Republicans haven’t put forward a real plan, but we have many great solutions in play,” Boebert told MS NOW. “We just have to actually act on them.”
President Donald Trump, for his part, has taken to calling the affordability crisis a Democratic “hoax.” And while Republicans have been careful not to pick fights with Trump, many Republicans said the GOP needs a new plan on the cost of living. “That’s just his word,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said of the president calling affordability a hoax. “That’s a word he uses on a lot of things.”
Trump’s comments are “probably why we did 10 points less than what we should have in Virginia, New Jersey and Tennessee,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told MS NOW, calling affordability “the No. 1 issue” with voters.
Bacon, who is retiring from representing his agriculture-heavy swing district at the end of this term, said he wants the Trump administration to “reconsider some of these tariffs.”
“Because,” Bacon continued, “in the end, that is part of the affordability problem.”
Many rank-and-file Republicans said a health care plan would lessen the economic effects of rising premiums. But on Thursday, both a Republican and a Democratic health proposal failed to clear a 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate.
“Let’s take any step forward on health care — any step,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told MS NOW. (Hawley was one of four Republicans to vote in favor of the Democratic proposal to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years.)
Conservatives in both chambers are urging leaders to start the long, complex process of passing a bill through the budget reconciliation process — a maneuver meant to get around the Senate filibuster and enact a law with a simple majority. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he doesn’t understand why Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., seems uninterested in pursuing another budget proposal for a health care bill. Kennedy said Republicans should use the procedure to try to pass a bipartisan housing-affordability bill that earned widespread support in the Senate but was stripped out of the annual defense authorization bill by House members. “I just think he’s making a mistake — a big, big mistake,” Kennedy said of Thune. “And we will look back and go, ‘What planet were we living on?’ Especially if the midterms don’t go well for us.” Thune told reporters this week he hadn’t taken any options off the table. Roy said he wants one of his bills allowing for greater flexibility for Health Savings Accounts to be “at the core of any reforms” on health care affordability. Other conservatives, including Boebert and Biggs, back that idea. Still, other Republicans argue the GOP already passed its affordability plan: the massive tax-and-spending law enacted in July. It’s just that Republicans need to sell voters on the reconciliation bill, claiming credit for cutting taxes on Social Security, tips and overtime pay. “Messaging is something that the House of Representatives — the Republicans in the House — need to do a better job on,” Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, told MS NOW. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said Republicans haven’t “outlined it and advertised it and sold it.” Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, called the reconciliation bill a major affordability measure, saying many Americans will get “some of the largest refunds that they have ever received” next year. But he also acknowledged the difficulty in assuring voters they’re working on a nebulous issue such as the cost of living. He summed up the challenge with a simple question: “What is affordability?” Ali Vitali, Kevin Frey and Nora McKee contributed to this report.
Jack Fitzpatrick covers Congress for MS NOW. He previously reported for Bloomberg Government, Morning Consult and National Journal. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University. Recommended
