Seven moderate Republicans voted against the clean Obamacare repeal bill in the Senate.
Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John McCain (R-AZ), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Susan Collins (R-ME) voted against Sen. Paul’s clean Obamacare repeal bill. All of these senators except for Sen. Collins voted to rescind Obamacare in 2015.
Conservative activists previously branded Sens. Murkowski, Portman, and Capito "traitors" for betraying their promise to the American people to repeal Obamacare.
Conservative activist groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks urged Republican senators to vote for Sen. Paul’s clean Obamacare repeal bill. Ken Cuccinelli of the Senate Conservative Fund recently suggested that his group might primary faux-Republicans such as Capito, Portman, and Murkowski.
Senator Paul wrote in an exclusive op-ed for Breitbart News, "That’s a good question. I say yes, but I tell you this ‐ it’s hard to say yes if we can’t do something as simple as keeping our word. As simple as voting today how we voted before when we were asking to be in charge. If you tell people you’re going to do something, do it. It’s just that simple. Let’s repeal Obamacare."
After his bill failed, Sen. Paul argued, "It’s a victory for conservatives that we did get a vote for a clean repeal."
Not only have these six senators voted to repeal Obamacare, they publicly pledged to do so on the campaign trail and in the halls of the Senate. Here are six times these senators promised to repeal Obamacare:
Lamar Alexander, "The wisest course is to repeal Obamacare and replace it step by step with solutions that lower health care costs."
Shelley Moore Capito, "I have consistently voted to repeal and replace this disastrous health care law, and I am glad that a repeal bill will finally reach the president’s desk."
Dean Heller,"This DC bureaucrat-driven healthcare system will only result in limited health care choices and higher costs for Nevadans."
Lisa Murkowski, "This law is not affordable for anyone in Alaska. That is why I will support the bill that repeals the ACA and wipes out its harmful impacts. I can’t watch premiums for Alaskans shoot up by 30 percent or more each year, see businesses artificially constrained, or see the quality of public education decline."
John McCain, "It is clear that any serious attempt to improve our health care system must begin with a full repeal and replacement of Obamacare, and I will continue fighting on behalf of the people of Arizona to achieve it."
Rob Portman, "I’m for repealing this broken law and replacing it with something better that gives patients more choice, decreases costs and increases access to quality, affordable care."
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