Obamacare to be quickly repealed after Donald Trump becomes next president, Republican leader says
Donald Trump made the repealing of the legislation, which has given healthcare to millions of Americans, a central part of his successful pitch to voters
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Majority leader Mitch McConnell has said that the party's representatives will swiftly repeal the healthcare legislation, which has guaranteed care to millions of people. He made the statement after it emerged that Donald Trump would be the new President of the United States, and that the Republicans had kept control of the legislature.
"It's pretty high on our agenda as you know," Mr McConell said in the aftermath of the election, according to Politico. "I would be shocked if we didn't move forward and keep our commitment to the American people."
Mr McConnell said that Obamacare was the "single worst piece of legislation" from the first two years of the Obama administration.
Donald Trump made the repealing of Obamacare one of his central policy commitments, and has said that he would look to carry it through in the early days after he takes office.
Some 11 million Americans are now enrolled in state or federal marketplace insurance plans created under Obama's 2010 law. Roughly 15 million more have received coverage through Medicaid, the U.S. healthcare program for the poor.
Republicans in Congress have tried 60 times to repeal Obamacare since it was passed and then upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2012, but have repeatedly failed.
The Republicans still keep only a very slim majority in the Senate, meaning that repealing the legislation will still be very difficult for the Republicans to repeal. But they are likely to do so by using "budget reconciliation", a special legislative process that makes it easier for lawmakers to push through unpopular decisions.
Mr McConnell also told reporters that he would look to see bipartisan comprehensive tax reform, and that border security should also be high on the to-do list. He expects president-elect Donald Trump to send the Senate a Supreme Court nominee soon, and to review environmental regulations put in place by Obama, including on coal.
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