cozie the status of the trumpcare bill:
Ben Wikler
Ben Wikler @benwikler
If you're involved in the fight against Trumpcare (and if you're not, join now), this week is going to be insane. 1/
The first big tell is Tuesday morning, when Republicans need 50+1 votes to start final debate on... something bad, don't know what yet. 2/
Nobody knows how Tuesday's vote will go. I have a sinking feeling. As do others. Need constant, maximal pressure. Call: 202-224-3121 3/
Unlike earlier phases of this battle, the hard right is now fully engaged. Koch organizations, Trump admin, the works. We must be louder. 4
Monday, Trump appears with Capito at the 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree. She's likely to seem as pro-Trump as possible. 5/ t.co/gWGn7TKni3?amp=1
If Capito Heller OR Murkowski commit to voting against Motion to Proceed, it'll either fail—or McConnell will delay it again. ¿Unlikely? 6/
If McConnell votes FOR the motion to proceed but it FAILS, he can't bring it up again and you can exhale. 7/
That's very unlikely. Leaders nearly always switch their votes to "nay" so they're voting w majority and reserve right to bring back up. 8/
DC believes that if McConnell loses MTP vote on Tue, it's over. But DC has thought it was over repeatedly. Color me skeptical. 9/
McConnell is telling senators that voting AGAINST MTP is equiv of saying they support Obamacare. Plus pressure, buyoffs, etc. He may win 10/
If the Rs win the Motion to Proceed, we enter 20 hours of debate. Surreally, that's all the debate we'll get on Trumpcare. 11/
At that point we'll need a HUGE wave of pressure. Normally a Motion to Proceed vote is preview of final vote. We'll already have lost it 12/
In this case, though, the MTP isn't necessarily a preview of final vote because we won't know what the final bill will be. So TURN IT UP 13/
Tue-Wed, we'll have 10 hours of R speeches, 10 hours of D speeches, furious dealmaking, & (your job) mega public outrage 14/
Then vote-o-rama: the weird Senate thing on budget reconciliation bills where each side proposes unlimited amendments & ALL get voted on 15/
Normally vote-o-rama is for "messaging" amendments in which each side proposes things that the other side will look bad voting against 16/
This time, vote-o-rama will be used by Rs to propose radical restructurings of the health care system without time for debate or review 17/
Meanwhile, Dems will, I hope and expect, come ready with 100s or 1000s of amendments to extend vote-o-rama as long as possible 18/
Each amendment currently gets a 1 minute speech from each side and then a 10 minute vote. So voting on hundreds of amendments = grueling 19/
That's the only way Ds can delay the final vote. But the Parliamentarian could rule them dilatory. Or McConnell can change rules anytime 20/
So at some point, Parliamentarian or GOP will presumably shut down the process and move to final vote on... something. 21/
At the end, McConnell will intro an amendment that wipes away all previous amendments. That's the final bill. Possibly unseen till then 22/
And then the Senate will vote on Trumpcare, whatever Trumpcare is at that point. A mystery bill that could shape all of our futures. 23/
Everything we've all been doing—millions of us calling, marching, sitting in, fighting for months on end—comes down to what a few Rs do 24/
In a series of moments, each a second or two long, a handful of Republican senators will vote yay or nay—death or life for untold 1000s 25/
Everything will go from fast fwd to, in that moment, slow motion, as we watch the ground truth that we've been guessing, trying to shape 26/
And then the world will snap back into focus—the GOP will have failed, or succeeded. If it failed, we celebrate 27/ t.co/f4jFAgwLy7?amp=1
If the Senate vote succeeds, we are in an extremely dark place with very little time and very little hope. We fight on anyway. 28/
If the Senate votes yes on Trumpcare, it's very likely that the House votes the bill through intact & with mind-blowing speed. 29/
If we reach the point of a House vote, it's worth every possible Hail Mary to try to stop it. Go to your local R office immediately. 30/
If the House passes it, Trump will sign it. Things will start getting worse very quickly for a lot of people. Insurance market meltdown. 31/
That... could all happen this week. How do we prevent that?
The first thing to do, with everything we've got, is to fight to stop the GOP from passing the Motion to Proceed on Tue AM. 33/
[ and then a series of tweets detailing specific actions that members of particular states can take mobile.twitter.com/benwikler/status/889299847970476032 ]
If the GOP passes the Motion to Proceed on Tuesday, I'd suggest basically putting your life on hold until the Trumpcare final vote is over.
This is one of those extremely rare moments in politics when everything is on the line—AND nobody knows which way it'll go.