You write:
Fortunately for Trump and his partners in crime, Senate Democrats will save them (and the rest of the country) from Republican stupidity and crassness. Remember, due to Senate closure rules, it requires 60 Senators to bring a bill up for a vote in the Senate, and currently the Republicans have only 52 Senate members. True to their nature, the Republicans in the House will yet again try to repeal Obamacare and even replace it with some half baked plan of their own, but the Senate is where such legislation will go to die. Trump can stomp his foot and wear off his finger prints Tweeting his rage, but nothing is likely to change that situation.
This assumes that the filibuster rule will remain in effect in its current form. The filibuster is not prescribed in the Constitution. The Senate can change it, and has done so in the past. Cloture (cutting off debate) used to require a two-thirds vote. That was reduced to 60 votes. More recently, the filibuster was completely abolished for executive branch appointments and for judicial appointments other than the Supreme Court. The Republican Senators will be under pressure to finish the job and get rid of it entirely, if that’s what has to happen to repeal Obamacare (or to build a beautiful wall or to require all Muslims to register or any other right-wing dream).
Furthermore, even under current rules, bills subject to the reconciliation process can be moved through the Senate by simple majority vote. The Senate could approve a budget bill that appropriated zero dollars for the Medicaid expansion and for the subsidies for policies purchased on the exchanges. They could then say to the Democrats, “Here’s our replacement plan. We realize you don’t like it as much as Obamacare, but even your filibuster can’t stop us from eviscerating Obamacare. Therefore, you can go along with our replacement plan, or you can filibuster it and leave those people you care about with absolutely nothing.”
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