According to multiple GOP sources, Republicans are looking at whether to use reauthorizations of existing programs, such as the Children's Health Insurance Program, as vehicles for replacement measures. That could give them leverage to secure cooperation from Democrats.
Jonathan Chait, a liberal columnist for New York magazine, calls it "taking children's health care hostage." There's been some Twitter outrage, too.
Why it matters: There's nothing new about Congress using must-pass bills as vehicles for more controversial stuff. But this is a good sign that if Republicans try it with CHIP, the politics of Obamacare will get even uglier.
It should be an anti-climactic day. No Senate confirmation hearings, and the House is expected to take up the Senate's budget resolution. If the House doesn't vote today, it could be tomorrow, per House deputy whip Dennis Ross. But it's coming eventually.
House Speaker Paul Ryan showed how conflicted Republicans are on Obamacare Thursday by trying to acknowledge all of their cross pressures in one press conference. Here's what he said about the timing of repeal and replacement:
They have to be done "all at the same time so that everybody sees what we're trying to do."
It's going to go through all of the House committees that handle health care.
But it has to be done quickly, because "this law is collapsing while we speak." (More on that below.)
But "we're not holding hard deadlines, only because we want to get it right."
