Democrats Criticize Senate Health Care Working Group for Lacking Diversity

Even as House Republicans were wheeling and dealing to get their health care plan passed, a group of 13 senators have been meeting for weeks now to craft their own measure that is likely to look much different from the version voted out of the House Thursday. And Democrats are already pouncing on the group because of it's lack of diversity.

The group's creation is outside of the normal committee process where legislation is crafted but includes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who has signed on to the group.

“As the Senate continues its work on fixing the broken promises of Obamacare, senators from throughout the conference have been working on solutions,” McConnell spokesman David Popp said, “Those meetings and efforts continue, including chairmen of the relevant committees and leadership.”

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the group, said it was formed to garner consensus.

“The Majority Leader has pulled together a group — a working group that represent different approaches and trying to get consensus there,” Cornyn said, “And we’re going through the issues methodically and we’re just getting started.”

Related: Senators Turn to Health Care Bill and They Have Issues

Notably missing from the working group are any of the five GOP women senators, particularly Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, two moderate votes Republicans will need to get a bill passed through the senate.

And Democrats have already attacked the group for that lack of diversity.

The group does include an ideologically diverse group of Republicans, ranging from Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, who are pushing for a complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act, to Senators Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania who want to protect Medicaid.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

Slide 1 of 1

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

Slide 1 of 1

The Senate can pass any health care bill with Republican votes alone, but with just a 52-seat majority, they can only afford to lose two votes. That tight margin is likely to make assembling a bill that appeals to the full spectrum of GOP senators just as difficult as it was in the House.

Related: House Narrowly Passes GOP Health Care Bill

Members of leadership are a part of the group and so are the heads of relative committees that would write health care legislation.

Here are the senators who are part of the group:

• Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
• Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX)
• Conference Chairman John Thune (R-SD)
• Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY)
• Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY)
• Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
• Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
• Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
• Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
• Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
• Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO)
• Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)