Sen. Patrick Leahy is strongly supporting Democratic Senate Leaders' plan to protest the secrecy surrounding Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act by slowing down the business of the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's hopeful that the full Senate will vote on a new health care bill before its July 4 recess.
McConnell says a small group of Republican senators is meeting in private to hammer out the details of a proposal to replace "Obamacare."
To protest this accelerated timetable and a lack of public hearings on this issue, the Democrats have announced plans to slow down the work of the Senate by invoking a number of parliamentary procedures.
NPR: Democrats Tie Up The Senate To Protest GOP Health Care Push
Leahy says he's never seen so little testimony taken on such an important issue in his 40-plus years in the Senate.
"In fact, we have a dozen or so Republican lawmakers meeting behind closed doors, no hearings, no debate, no process, no showing what the cost of it is, and no bill," said Leahy.
A number of Republican senators, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, have also expressed strong disappointment in the way that Republican leaders have chosen to negotiate key parts of the bill behind closed doors.
