Democratic lawmakers call on Trump to end attacks on Affordable Care Act
WASHINGTON -
About two dozen Democratic lawmakers, including New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, called on the Trump administration on Tuesday to halt its fight to have the Affordable Care Act thrown out.
The lawmakers stood on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court and called on President Donald Trump to end attempts to get rid of the ACA.
Trump has claimed that people with pre-existing conditions will not have to worry about losing their health care, but lawmakers said they will have no protections if the ACA is thrown out.
"We are here this morning to say that we oppose the Trump Administration's effort to overturn health care for Americans," Shaheen said.
Shaheen and her fellow Democrats chastised Republicans for the latest bid to throw out the ACA. The president last week ordered the attorney general to support a lawsuit that seeks to have the law declared unconstitutional. Shaheen said that will put millions of Americans at risk of losing their health care.
"This assault on Americans' health care cannot go unanswered," Shaheen said.
Democrats plan to introduce a resolution in the House and Senate in support of the ACA.
"The American people deserve to know exactly where their representatives stand on the Trump administration's vicious campaign to take away their health care," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
While Democrats control the House and will be able to bring it up for a vote, Republicans call the shots in the Senate. Shaheen urged Republican senators to join in their efforts.
"There are a lot of reasons why we should work together to fix our health care system -- more than 20 million reasons -- and they live in Republican and Democratic districts throughout the country," Shaheen said.
In a series of tweets Monday night, Trump suggested that Republicans will wait to present their health care plan until after the 2020 election. He said Republicans are working on a plan that will have cheaper premiums and deductibles, but no details have been released about a Republican alternative to the ACA.
