© 2024 Allbritton Journalism Institute
JD Vance
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks at a campaign event in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker) Karl B DeBlaker/AP

The Ghost of Obamacare Repeal Haunts the GOP

Republican senators were quick to insist Obamacare repeal is dead, even as JD Vance revives the idea.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks at a campaign event in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker) Karl B DeBlaker/AP

JD Vance has endorsed an old policy that would strip protections for people with preexisting conditions — and many Republicans in Congress, having been through this fight before, are sprinting away from the idea.

“I don’t think you’re going to see an effort to repeal the ACA,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican who helped block a GOP attempt to scrap Obamacare in the summer of 2017.

“Repealing Obamacare isn’t going to happen,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming bluntly told NOTUS on Thursday. “It isn’t even going to be debated.”