Bob Corker said he wants to slow down the entire process so that lawmakers have the chance to think through several factors, including the impact of repealing the law on the budget. | Getty 5 Senate Republicans seek to slow down Obamacare repeal

A group of moderate Senate Republicans introduced an amendment Monday to give Republicans additional time to repeal Obamacare.

Sens. Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy and Rob Portman want to extend the deadline for a repeal bill until March 3 under an arcane budget procedure called reconciliation that prevents a Democratic filibuster. The existing resolution's deadline is Jan. 27, although none of the deadlines are binding.


Corker told POLITICO that he wants to slow the entire process so that lawmakers have the chance to think through several factors, including the impact of repealing the law on the budget. He also said President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price, is unlikely to take office this month.

"Tom Price, likely by the 27th [of January], wouldn't even be sworn in yet," Corker said outside of the Senate floor. "If you look at the treasure trove of material he is going to have access to in that position — to not be able to utilize the knowledge base he can develop over a three-four week period ... also doesn't seem to me to be particularly prudent."