Freedom Caucus Member: I “Attempted” to Read Healthcare Bill Before Voting for It

The conservative House Freedom Caucus has gotten much of the credit – or blame, depending on your point of view – for yesterday’s passage of the American Health Care Act. But one caucus member has admitted that he attempted to read the entire bill, but ended up glossing over a lot of it.

Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) appeared on CNN this morning to discuss his vote; he admits he had some concerns, but voted for it anyway. Host Alisyn Camerota pressed Sanford on whether or not he had read the entire bill before voting. Sanford admits:

“Yes, I turned through every page. As to whether or not I got through some of the details, some of the pages … no. But, yes, I attempted to read the entire bill.”

When pressed by Camerota, he further admitted to glossing over some of it. But, hey, he has “political staff” who went through it for him. This is standard operating procedure on Capitol Hill, of course. Staff does the bulk of the work and advises the Member on how to vote.

But healthcare should be handled differently by every single Republican, regardless of their vote.

Back in 2010, when Obamacare was first passed, Republicans rightly made a stink over the fact they had been shut out of crafting the bill and that they had to “pass the bill to find out what was in the bill.” Healthcare is the hill on which Republicans have chosen to die. There is no room for glossing over this particular and letting staff do the heavy lifting.

Mark Sanford, and each of his Republican colleagues, should know AHCA inside out. It’s a slap in the face to the millions of conservative activists who have worked insanely hard to fight against Obamacare that they do not.

Our friends at RightScoop have the video of Mark Sanford here.

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