Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) on Friday called for the repeal of the 17th Amendment and the return to senators selected by state legislatures after the Senate GOP’s effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare died in a late-night vote.
The 17th Amendment was ratified in 1913 and established the popular election of senators. Previously, senators were elected by state legislatures.
The Senate’s “skinny repeal” of ObamaCare failed late Thursday night by a vote of 51-49. The bill would have repealed major parts of the Affordable Care Act, including the individual mandate and would have defunded Planned Parenthood. The vote failed after three Republican senators, John McCain (Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), defected and voted against the bill.
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“We must now return to the correct way of legislating and send the bill back to committee, hold hearings, receive input from both sides of the aisle, heed the recommendations of nation’s governors, and produce a bill that finally delivers affordable health care for the American people,” McCain said in a statement after the vote.
With the latest vote’s failure, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said said “it is time to move on” for the GOP.
“What we tried to accomplish for the American people was the right thing for the country,” McConnell said early Friday. “I think the American people are going to regret that we couldn’t find another way forward.”
Huckabee slammed on Twitter the Republicans who sunk the repeal plans: