E&C Republicans advance health care piece of GOP tax bill after marathon markup

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, in a 30-to-24 party-line vote, advanced the health care section of the GOP’s sweeping tax bill that would slash Medicaid spending by hundreds of billions of dollars.

Over a 26-and-a-half-hour markup that started Tuesday afternoon and went through the night into Wednesday, Republicans voted down a slew of Democratic amendments, including several that would have stripped out or softened provisions to impose Medicaid work requirements and charge Medicaid recipients copays of up to $35 for health services. But Democrats railed against both GOP policies, arguing they punish the poor to finance tax cuts for the rich.