GOP rep: Fund government first, then vote on healthcare

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) says the GOP should take care of a long-term government funding bill before tackling ObamaCare repeal.

{mosads}Saying that funding the government is “what we’re required to do,” Cole called for lawmakers to hammer out a deal before next week’s deadline to avert a shutdown.

“It’s a trillion-dollar bill, there’s a lot of controversy to it. The more you push it off to the end, the more opportunity people have to play mischief,” Cole told The Hill.

“You actually empower the Democrats but you also empower fringe elements of your own conference,” he added of letting government funding wait until near the deadline.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) added that his party wants to “avoid a shutdown at all costs. … We really put our Defense Department in a bind when we do this patchwork kind of budgeting.”

Watch the video above to hear the lawmakers in their own words.