Sarah Kliff / Twitter
The GOP has drafted some portion of a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, which reportedly was being kept in Capitol room H-157 for Republican House members to stop in and view today. Rand Paul then made it his mission to track down and release the bill — only to be stopped at H-157's door.
He then held an impromptu press conference outside of "the secret office for the secret bill" and vowed to "keep pressure up all day today" to get House leadership to release the bill.
Democrats including Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and Paul Tonko smelled blood in the water as they showed up at the room to try to get a peek at the bill. Hoyer said Republican secrecy around the bill was"not good order for the American people." Tonko said he wants to read the bill "because it's affecting one-sixth of our nation's economy."
A twist! Reporters were let into H-157 to confirm that the bill was not being held there.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky: "Well, we're on a treasure hunt, I guess." She added that lawmakers might need a sniffer dog to find the bill.
One member compares this to an egg hunt. This being finding the Obamacare bill. pic.twitter.com/f89hZl5121— Caitlin Owens (@caitlinnowens) March 2, 2017
There's also this video, by HuffPost reporter Matt Fuller, that has a special Steny Hoyer monologue:
Here is a @MEPFuller periscope that includes Hoyer lecturing a statue of Abraham Lincoln https://t.co/KwyzBcm92W— Justin Green (@JGreenDC) March 2, 2017