The Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson said Republicans should try again to repeal the Affordable Care Act if they take back power – then retreated, under fire from the Biden administration.
Speaking to Breitbart News, a far-right site, on Monday, Johnson said Republicans could “actually make good on what we established as our priorities” if they won control of Congress in midterms this year and the presidency in 2024.
“For example, if we’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare – I still think we need to fix our healthcare system – we need to have the plan ahead of time so that once we get in office, we can implement it immediately, not knock around like we did last time and fail.”
When Republicans last controlled Congress and the White House, under Donald Trump, they failed to bring down the ACA. Popularly known as Obamacare, after the president who passed it, the law aims to provide affordable health insurance to those otherwise without it. It became law in 2010.
The ACA has increased in popularity since Biden took office. As of last year, approximately 31 million Americans received healthcare coverage through the ACA. An additional 1.2 million enrolled during a special six-month period during the Covid pandemic.
The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has been reluctant to release details of what Republicans would do should they retake Congress in the midterms, with McConnell saying only an agenda will be revealed “when we take it back”.
The Florida senator Rick Scott produced an 11-point plan but McConnell opposed it in public. Scott’s plan, Rescue America, includes building Trump’s promised border wall, a declaration that there are only two genders, eliminating the Department of Education and requiring all Americans to pay some form of income tax.
“If we’re fortunate enough to have the majority next year, I’ll be the majority leader,” McConnell told reporters. “I’ll decide in consultation with my members what to put on the floor.
“Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda. We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets social security and Medicare within five years.”
In his interview with Breitbart, Johnson said he supported parts of Scott’s plan. But his comments on Obamacare gave Democrats something of an open goal, in terms of highlighting another Republican attack on a popular law.
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said: “Senate Republicans have a plan to gut healthcare, raise premiums and strip protections for pre-existing conditions. They also want to raise taxes on half of Americans, including seniors and working families. Don’t take my word for it, listen to [Senator Rick Scott] and [Senator Ron Johnson].”
On Tuesday, Johnson released a statement about his comments.
“During the radio interview I used our failure to repeal and replace Obamacare as an example of how we need to be prepared to deliver on whatever agenda items we decide to run on,” he said.
“I was not suggesting repealing and replacing Obamacare should be one of those priorities.”
Johnson said his focus was on fixing US healthcare and correcting Biden policies.
