WASHINGTON – When the banner Republican effort to scuttle and rewrite President Barack Obama’s health care law crumbled this week, the falling debris popped a hefty dent into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s image as a dauntless legislative tactician three chess moves ahead of everyone else.
His two attempts to craft legislation replacing Obama’s law have collapsed for lack of GOP support. Republican opposition seems likely to doom a vote next week on his Plan C, a bill simply repealing much of Obama’s statute.
Along the way, conservative Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., accused McConnell of a “serious breach of trust” by telling moderates that proposed Medicaid cuts would not occur. His fellow Kentucky Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, was a constant thorn and the most vociferous opponent of McConnell’s effort. And Utah Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, gave party leaders little advance word when he and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, deserted the bill late Monday, effectively killing it in the dark of night.
“This has been a very, very challenging experience for all of us,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday.
And in a telling attempt to shift the focus, he answered a question about how he’d explain the health care defeat to GOP voters by citing the Senate’s confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, the repeal of some Obama regulations and his plans to tackle a tax overhaul and infrastructure legislation.