Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is at the center of two of the biggest legislative debates on the horizon for Congress: repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, and plans to overhaul the tax code. And despite a lack of party consensus and an uncertain timeline, Brady remains confident that Republicans will accomplish both this year.
First up for the congressional GOP, and Brady, is addressing lingering questions about the Affordable Care Act’s demise. Originally, there was hope on Capitol Hill and among President Trump’s transition team that a repeal vote could happen within weeks of Inauguration Day. But as concerns increased about undoing the law without a set-in-stone replacement ready, Brady and his colleagues began working to determine how much of a replacement could be done simultaneously.
Despite Trump’s pronouncement over the weekend that the effort could go into next year, Speaker Paul Ryan insisted that legislation on Obamacare would be finished in 2017. Brady said his committee is still operating on a March timetable.
“We’re moving ahead deliberately. We want to make sure we get it right, not rushed,” the Texas congressman told RealClearPolitics during an interview in his Capitol office for RCP's “The First 100 Days” podcast. “But we are moving forward at a pretty steady clip. So the answer is sooner rather than later."
First up for the congressional GOP, and Brady, is addressing lingering questions about the Affordable Care Act’s demise. Originally, there was hope on Capitol Hill and among President Trump’s transition team that a repeal vote could happen within weeks of Inauguration Day. But as concerns increased about undoing the law without a set-in-stone replacement ready, Brady and his colleagues began working to determine how much of a replacement could be done simultaneously.
Despite Trump’s pronouncement over the weekend that the effort could go into next year, Speaker Paul Ryan insisted that legislation on Obamacare would be finished in 2017. Brady said his committee is still operating on a March timetable.
“We’re moving ahead deliberately. We want to make sure we get it right, not rushed,” the Texas congressman told RealClearPolitics during an interview in his Capitol office for RCP's “The First 100 Days” podcast. “But we are moving forward at a pretty steady clip. So the answer is sooner rather than later."