Drama Over Repealing, Replacing Obamacare Has Unexpected Source

The battle to repeal and replace Obamacare is already underway, and so far the biggest fight is within the Republican party.

Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., who wants a full repeal of Obamacare, accuses his Republican colleagues of hiding the draft of the replacement bill from him. On Thursday, Senator Paul marched over to the House with a crowd of reporters demanding to see the bill. 

"I would like to read the Obamacare bill, if you recall when Obamacare was passed in 2009, 2010, Nancy Pelosi said you'll know what's in it after we pass it, the Republican party shouldn't act in the same way," Paul said in an impromptu press conference. 

Paul says the only information he has on what's in the replacement he's received from Politico. "I haven't gotten anything in writing from anyone, so we're here asking for a written copy of this because this should be an open and transparent process," said Paul.

He has taken to Twitter to document his search, and has found an unlikely ally in Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

This is harder than it should be. But wait. I think someone left us a hint! pic.twitter.com/dxx27kjxPM

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 3, 2017

Maybe it's over there with the Justices for safe keeping? pic.twitter.com/CXEWPW9BPo

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 3, 2017

Another day without the bill in the hands of the American people and their representatives. But @politico has it!

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 3, 2017

Just helping out @RandPaul. #ReleaseTheHounds #WheresTheBill pic.twitter.com/LrooyMFWA0

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) March 2, 2017

Paul says he's heard rumors of parts of Obamacare that he does not agree with being left in place like the "Cadillac Tax" and individual mandate. He referred to these as "democrat ideas dressed up in Republican clothing," and is now referring to the draft bill as "Obamacare Lite."

Paul's actions garnered responses from GOP colleagues like Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who chairs the health committee Paul sits on. 

"Sen. Paul is a valuable member of the committee and I think I'll give him a call and see if he'd like to have more information," Alexander said. "He and his staff have been briefed about the bill. He's had a chance to attend all the same meetings the rest of the senators have. So if he feels like he needs more information I'll be happy to give it to him."

But Senators Ted Cruz, R-Tex., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, are joining Senator Paul in saying they will accept nothing less than a full repeal of Obamacare, which could cause Republicans some issues down the line.

"We do have some problems with two or three people on our side that make it so if this becomes a partisan vote we won't have the votes," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "It's a problem, it's a big problem."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expressed pleasant surprise that it's now the Republicans internally battling over Obamacare.

"Who would have thought, one month into the fight over the ACA, it's the Republicans, not the Democrats, who are in disarray and pointing at one another like an Abbott and Costello show," said Schumer.

But Speaker of the House Paul Ryan insists Republicans are on the same page.

"We're all working off the same piece of paper, the same plan, so we are in sync, the House, the Senate, and the Trump administration because this law is collapsing," said Ryan in a press conference Thursday. "You can't just repeal it you have to repeal it and replace it with a system and a law that actually work and that is exactly what we're doing."

"Much of it was modeled off the Tom Price legislation, which we as conservatives have always seen as the gold standard for replacing Obamacare, he's now the secretary of HHS," said Ryan. "That is the bill, the plan that we ran on in 2016 and told America here's our vision for how we replace Obamacare after we repeal Obamacare. That's the bill we're working on right now, that's the bill we're working on with the Trump administration."

Vice President Mike Pence and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price will join Speaker Ryan in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, this Friday to rally public support for their repeal and replace plans.