House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden talks to Rep. Frank Pallone during a markup hearing on the proposed American Health Care Act on Capitol Hill on March 8. | Getty House Dems step up delay tactics against Obamacare repeal

Bring on the delay tactics.

House Democrats, irked that Republicans are trying to speed through consideration of their Obamacare repeal plan, have declared parliamentary warfare in an attempt to delay the bill as much as possible.


In addition to forcing committee markups of the proposal to move at tortoise-like speed, Democrats have taken their fight to the House floor, forcing Republicans to take a series of votes to adjourn. The votes are largely a nuisance to the GOP but slow things down little by little.

House Republican leaders plan to bring the repeal bill to the floor by the end of the month, with hopes of then securing Senate passage before the mid-April recess.

The Democratic delays won’t halt the bill entirely, but are one more headache for GOP leaders, who face mounting conservative opposition within their own party.

Democrats defended the maneuvers, saying Republicans shouldn’t try to shove such sweeping legislation through committees without first getting a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on how much the bill will cost and how many people could lose their insurance. Republicans, including then-Budget Committee ranking member Paul Ryan, demanded as much when Democrats were pushing Obamacare in 2009.

“The strategy is trying to get a CBO score,” said Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

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Democrats unexpectedly called three motions to adjourn during Wednesday’s afternoon votes, a tactic they’re expected to continue at every vote series into Thursday, if not longer.

The motion to adjourn amounts to little more than Democrats stomping their feet and keeping Republicans on the House floor a bit longer.

But Democrats say the votes, along with dragging out the committee markups by offering dozens of amendments, could ultimately slow down the process long enough for CBO to release its assessment of the bill, which is expected to come early next week.

“I think they don’t want a CBO score because they think it’s going to show this is going to cost money, not save money. And that a lot of people of will become uninsured,” Pallone said.

