3 GOP Senators Oppose New Health Care Bill. That May Be Game Over.

Sen. Tom Cotton, Sen. Mike Lee and Sen. Rand Paul, all Republicans, have said they oppose the American Health Care Act and will vote against it, posing a potentially decisive threat to President Trump's first major legislative initiative.

Speaker Paul Ryan, who, along with Trump, has spearheaded the push to pass the bill, worked to amend the bill this week to accommodate demands from members of his party. But Cotton, of Arkansas, said the changes were insufficient to earn his support.

"Despite the proposed amendments, I still cannot support the House health-care bill, nor would it pass the Senate," he said Tuesday. "The amendments improve the Medicaid reforms in the original bill, but do little to address the core problem of Obamacare: rising premiums and deductibles, which are making insurance unaffordable for too many Arkansans. The House should continue its work on this bill. It's more important to finally get health-care reform right than to get it fast."

The bill goes up for a vote in the House Thursday.

Lee, of Utah, made his statement against the bill on Twitter. "I promised the people of Utah I would do everything I can to repeal #Obamacare. The House bill does not do that. I am a no."

He also criticized the process his fellow Republicans were using to pass the law.

“This is exactly the type of back-room dealing and rushed process that we criticized Democrats for and it is not what we promised the American people,” he said earlier in the month.

On CNN Monday, he questioned the administration's "three-pronged" approach to reforming health care, insisting that Republicans should try to get as much done in a single bill as possible.

According to MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin, a representative for Sen. Paul, of Kentucky, said Tuesday that he "remains opposed to the House’s Obamacare Lite legislation."

Republicans need 50 or more votes to pass a bill through the Senate. With 52 GOP senators, and at least three openly opposing this legislation, the prospects for AHCA becoming law look slim. Democrats are not expected to support the law.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, Trump told Republicans that they could lose their seats if they oppose the health care bill.

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