ObamaCare deal in danger of falling out of spending measure over abortion fight

by Peter Sullivan - 03/19/18 1:59 PM ET

A bipartisan deal to stabilize ObamaCare markets is in serious danger of collapsing because of a dispute over abortion, with hardly any time to resolve the dispute.

Republicans are insisting that the Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funds from being used to pay for abortion, be applied to the new ObamaCare funds, which are aimed at lowering premiums.

Democrats say this would expand the Hyde Amendment and have rejected the language.

{mosads}The measure stabilizing the ObamaCare markets is meant for inclusion in a larger government-funding bill that must be approved by Friday. Democratic votes are needed to pass it, meaning that if there is not a deal on the abortion language, the ObamaCare measure will simply be left out of the funding bill altogether.

Sources in both parties say it will be tough to overcome the differences on abortion this week. The text of the funding deal is set to be unveiled as soon as Monday night.

President Trump offered support to a proposal from Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) in a phone call over the weekend, aides said. But that proposal includes the abortion restrictions, which is a dealbreaker for Democrats.

“We are still committed to ensuring that no taxpayer money goes to funding abortion,” said a White House official.

Top House Republicans have said if Democrats won’t agree to the Hyde language, they will simply not approve any ObamaCare funds.

Collins, who has pushed for the ObamaCare fix for months, said Monday she is still working.

“We’re still working on that,” she told The Hill. “We’ve worked all weekend.”

She said she would not get into the details of negotiations when asked about the Hyde dispute.

Tags Abortion Budget Donald Trump Lamar Alexander ObamaCare Susan Collins