WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has shrugged off reports suggesting the House may need to re-vote on the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday, Ryan claimed he is waiting to send the bill to the Senate out of an abundance of caution.
Ryan indicated the bill will be the sent the Senate after the Congressional Budget Office releases its analysis of the bill, which is expected next week.
'The CBO score basically has to be in deficit compliance, meaning it can't produce a deficit. It has to save,' Ryan said. 'And the last CBO score we had, it saved $150 billion dollars. The only change that we've made since that CBO score was an $8 billion dollar amendment.'
'But we just want to, out of an abundance of caution, wait to send the bill over to the Senate when we get the final score,' he added. 'So, we're just basically being overly-cautious, but there's really kind of a non-issue here.'
The CBO must find that the bill saves at least $2 billion over ten years in order for Republicans to use the reconciliation process and prevent a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
House Republicans narrowly approved the revised healthcare bill earlier this month after leaders were forced to withdraw the original legislation.
Ryan also dismissed talk of a possible Democratic 'wave' election in 2018 due to scandals recently plaguing President Donald Trump.
'Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah is what I say about that stuff,' Ryan said. 'Look, this is what I call the white noise of Washington-Beltway media. We're busy doing our work.'
Additionally, the House Speaker said he expects Senate Republicans to pass a healthcare bill before the August recess and expressed confidence tax reform will be passed this year.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX