Cotton Blasts ‘Mythical’ Phase 2 and 3 Sales Pitch for GOP Plan

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said there are “no guarantees” that the “mythical” Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the House GOP leadership’s health care reform plan will actually happen during an interview Monday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”

Cotton, who has expressed his frustration with the proposed American Health Care Act, doubted the three-phase process, pushed by proponents of the Obamacare replacement bill, would “get it right.” The senator from Arkansas urged the House to slow down and use a “deliberative” process to “get it right.”

“That’s why it’s important that we get this bill right because we have no guarantees about what might happen in the mythical Phase 2 and Phase 3.”

“But let me just say this about this so-called three-phase process — that’s just not going to happen. And that’s just politicians’ talk,” Cotton said. “That’s why it’s important that we get this bill right because we have no guarantees about what might happen in the mythical Phase 2 and Phase 3.”

Cotton noted the proposed first phase is a “so-called reconciliation bill that can pass with a simple majority in the Senate.”

“Phase 2 is as-yet unwritten regulations, which are going to be subject to the whims of the most liberal judges in America,” Cotton said. “And Phase 3 is some imaginary bill that might pass with Democratic support. But if had Democratic support, we wouldn’t need Phase 2 and Phase 3.”

Cotton pushed back against the rhetoric stemming from House Speaker Paul Ryan that casts the decision before congressional Republicans as a “binary choice.”

“And I just think that that’s a false choice,” Cotton said. “This legislation has a lot of flaws in it. We can fix those flaws if we take a deliberative approach … We have a chance to get it right, not get it fast, and that’s what we should be focused on.”

When LifeZette Editor-in-Chief Laura Ingraham pointed to a tweet from the president Thursday in which he touted the proposed legislation and insisted that “it will end in a beautiful picture,” Cotton said he certainly hoped that would be the case.

“The House as a whole can move a little bit more slowly, have an open amendments process. And then ultimately if it passes the House — which right now I don’t think it would — but if it ultimately does because of changes, then the Senate can do the same,” Cotton said. “And if we do so, we will have a chance to get health care reform — not get it fast, and what the president tweeted would be accurate.”

Ingraham also asked Cotton to react to reports indicating Trump would threaten to support primary challenges against congressional Republicans if they didn’t get on board with the House GOP leadership’s legislation. Cotton indicated that he was not afraid of the prospect.

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“I will tell the president exactly what I tell Arkansans — that I work for 3 million Arkansans, and I’m going to make sure that the bill on which I vote protects them and serves their interests,” Cotton said. “I hope the president and I can agree on this. As I’ve always said, I’ll support the president when I think he’s right and I’ll try to change his mind when I think he’s wrong. And if I can’t change his mind, then I’ll have to oppose him.”

“I want Republicans to be united around the goal that we’ve all had and that I still have and share with every other Republican I know, which is repealing Obamacare and getting health care reform right,” Cotton added. “And it’s not surprising that just one week after legislative text is finally released that we have some differences of opinion. The way to resolve those differences is to be deliberative and careful in our approach to health care reform.”