text: A frantic scramble to influence the Senate’s healthcare legislation intensified on Monday, with House conservatives pressuring their allies in the Senate and Democrats mounting a furious public relations blitz to kill the bill. 
   
   The pace of activity is picking up ahead of the informal July 4 deadline set by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellSenate passes 0B defense bill Overnight Health Care: New GOP ObamaCare repeal bill gains momentum Overnight Finance: CBO to release limited analysis of ObamaCare repeal bill | DOJ investigates Equifax stock sales | House weighs tougher rules for banks dealing with North Korea MORE (R-Ky.) for a vote. 
   
   McConnell does not want the ObamaCare debate to eat up more precious legislative time, with nearly half the year gone and congressional Republicans and President Trump still looking for a major legislative victory. 
   
   Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Barrasso John Anthony BarrassoDems force 'Medicare for All' on Americans but exempt themselves GOP sees fresh opening with Dems’ single payer embrace Overnight Health Care: CBO predicts 15 percent ObamaCare premium hike | Trump calls Sanders single-payer plan ‘curse on the US’ | Republican seeks score of Sanders’s bill MORE (Wyo.) told reporters that he expects a Senate vote on the bill as soon as next week, underlining the importance of the next two weeks. 
   
   McConnell is walking a tightrope in seeking to win over centrists and conservatives for a Senate version of the House-passed American Health Care Act — which is being negotiated entirely behind closed doors. 
   
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   Much of the focus has been on winning over moderates in the 52-member conference, a strategy that risks losing conservative Sens.(R-Ky.),(R-Utah) and(R-Texas). McConnell can only afford two defections, with every Senate Democrat expected to be a “no” vote. 
   
   In an effort to buck up the conservatives, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) — the largest group of conservatives in the House — warned that the Senate risks seeing its bill die in the House if it drifts too far to the center. 
   
   The RSC specifically warned that the bill would lose support in the House if it did not keep four provisions, including the phasing out of extra federal funding for Medicaid in 2020. They also warned McConnell against preserving ObamaCare’s tax increases, removing language defunding Planned Parenthood or barring refundable tax credits from being used to “federally fund abortions.” 
   
   In a bid to keep moderate Republicans on board, McConnell has proposed phasing out enhanced federal funding for Medicaid expansion in 2023. 
   
   GOP senators have also discussed keeping ObamaCare taxes to help pay for the costs of the bill, and language on Planned Parenthood in the House bill may be struck down by the Senate parliamentarian. The Senate plans to use special budgetary rules to prevent Democrats from filibustering the healthcare bill, but this makes certain provisions vulnerable under other Senate rules. 
   
   James Wallner, a former aide to Lee and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who are both playing active roles in the healthcare talks, said the RSC letter shows that conservatives are laying down their markers before it’s too late. 
   
   “To the extent that the bulk of the party wants to pass the House-passed bill or a modified version of the House-passed bill, individual members need to take steps to give themselves leverage heading into that kind of high-stakes showdown,” he said. 
   
   Senate Democrats are hoping to have an impact, too. They threatened Monday to grind the Senate to a halt to protest Republicans’ decision to craft the bill in private meetings, skipping the regular order of holding hearings and marking it up in public committee sessions. 
   
   “If Republicans won’t relent and debate their healthcare bill in the open for the American people to see, then they shouldn’t expect business as usual in the Senate,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Charles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerSenate Dems hold floor talk-a-thon against latest ObamaCare repeal bill This week: Senate wrapping up defense bill after amendment fight Cuomo warns Dems against cutting DACA deal with Trump MORE (N.Y.). 
   
   Democrats planned to hold a late-night talk-a-thon on the Senate floor Monday night to put the spotlight on the GOP’s secretive tactics — a strategy Democrats used earlier this year to protest some of Trump’s controversial Cabinet picks. 
   
   The three conservatives are pressing different issues on healthcare. 
   
   Paul has made clear to colleagues that he will not support legislation that creates a new GOP-sponsored entitlement program in the form of refundable tax credits to help low-income people buy private insurance plans. 
   
   Lee and Cruz are pressing GOP leaders to allow states to get out of two major regulatory requirements under ObamaCare. 
   
   One, known as guaranteed issue, mandates that insurance companies sell insurance plans to people regardless of how sick they are, and another, known as community rating, prohibits insurance companies from pricing those plans to reflect the greater financial risk of insuring people with pre-existing medical conditions. 
   
   A GOP source familiar with the negotiations said McConnell has so far refused to promise conservatives to let states opt out of the community rating requirement — which keeps health plans more affordable for sick people but sends premiums soaring — or to exempt states altogether from the regulatory mandate and allow them to opt in. 
   
   McConnell, however, is worried that if he effectively guts ObamaCare’s popular prohibition against insurers charging higher prices for sick people, he would lose moderate votes. 
   
   Conservatives are stepping up their efforts to mold the bill, as it’s become apparent that Trump is primarily interested in a political victory and is willing to cater to moderates to get one. 
   
   At a meeting at the White House last week with prominent centrists such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann MurkowskiSenate Dems hold floor talk-a-thon against latest ObamaCare repeal bill Collins skeptical of new ObamaCare repeal effort How Senate relationships could decide ObamaCare repeal MORE (R-Alaska), Rob Portman Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanWeek ahead in tech: Debate over online sex trafficking bill heats up 'Hillbilly Elegy' author won't run for Senate Brown, Portman urge Trump administration to move quickly on a steel decision MORE (R-Ohio) and Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsSenate Dems hold floor talk-a-thon against latest ObamaCare repeal bill Ryan: Graham-Cassidy 'best, last chance' to repeal ObamaCare Collins skeptical of new ObamaCare repeal effort MORE (R-Maine), Trump criticized the House-passed bill as “mean” and urged Senate Republicans to craft legislation that is “generous, kind [and] with heart.” 
   
   “That may be adding additional money into it,” the president said at the start of the meeting. 
   
   Moderate Republicans have sought to put their imprint on the legislation by pushing it further to the center. 
   
   A group led by Portman wants to extend the phase-out of extra federal funding for the Medicaid expansion to 2027 but would likely accept 2025 as a split-the-difference compromise with McConnell’s proposed end date of 2023. 
   
   Murkowski and Collins have also emphasized the importance of preserving funding for Planned Parenthood. 
   
   Murkowski wrote in a recent letter to a constituent that she is committed to providing insurance coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, continuing support for Medicaid expansion and preserving funding for Planned Parenthood. 
   
   — Jordain Carney and Rachel Roubein contributed. ||||| Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch said he hopes Republicans have "as much time as it takes" to study the proposal. | Getty Senate GOP prepares for Obamacare repeal vote next week Republicans are working behind closed doors — and quickly — to finalize a bill and bring it to the floor. 
   
   Senate Republicans are preparing to vote on Obamacare repeal next week, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations, potentially leaving rank-and-file lawmakers with no more than a week to review legislation that would affect millions of Americans and one-sixth of the U.S. economy. 
   
   Senators are expected to see the text of the bill as soon as the end of this week, those sources said, provided this week's work goes smoothly. The timeline could change based on the response from individual senators toward the proposal at party meetings, but Republicans are increasingly optimistic they can hold a vote next week if this week's lunch talks go well. 
   
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   Sen. Bob Corker said Tuesday that he expects legislation to be made public on Thursday and for a vote to take place roughly a week later. The Tennessee Republican told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” he would have preferred "a more open process" but that he would ultimately vote based on the substance of the measure. 
   
   "I believed the majority leader when he said he's going to take it up. I expect us to vote on it next week," Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Monday. "It's close. Everybody's been counting [votes] since the beginning. It's been close since the beginning." 
   
   Such a timeline would mean Republicans would have about a week to review text of a bill to repeal the 2010 health care law. Burr said he would be comfortable with that timeline: "We’ll debate it for 20 hours." 
   
   Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said he hopes Republicans have "as much time as it takes" to study the proposal. Democrats have slammed Republicans for moving so quickly and without holding public hearings. 
   
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   "It's not a light bill," Hatch said. Asked whether they will vote this month, he replied: "We could. But clearly I wonder if we could." 
   
   Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried on Monday evening to get Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to commit to allowing at least 10 hours to review the legislation before it comes to the floor for a vote. McConnell wouldn't commit to such a number. 
   
   "We'll have ample opportunity to read and amend the bill," McConnell said. 
   
   The timeline could blow up because there is no final deal yet on any of the sticking points and negotiations are still extremely fluid. McConnell can lose just two senators in his 52-member caucus to pass the bill, with Vice President Mike Pence as a tie-breaker. 
   
   Democrats have been revving up their opposition to the legislation, organizing hours of speeches on Monday attacking the GOP's secretive process. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) called it "an affront to democracy itself." 
   
   Democrats spent Monday drawing a contrast between the passage of Obamacare and its potential repeal, emphasizing that hundreds of Republican amendments were considered and Congress devoted weeks to debate in committee and on the floor before the bill, also known as the Affordable Care Act, was passed. 
   
   "We had a month of debate in the United States Senate in 2009 — that seems like a reasonable amount of time" for the GOP bill, said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). 
   
   But Republicans threw the Democrats' own history on health care back at them, arguing that Democrats deployed secretive techniques and the party-line budget reconciliation process to ultimately pass a portion of Obamacare into law. 
   
   "I hope they'll have more time than we did on Christmas Eve when [former Sen. Harry] Reid produced his bill," said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). 
   
   Republican leaders believe that entering the July 4th recess with their Obamacare quagmire unsolved could lose votes as well as hurt the GOP politically. But the rushed timeline could put rank-and-file Republicans in a tough spot with little time to deliberate such a consequential vote. 
   
   "We're going to need a significant amount of time," to review text, said Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). "More than hours." His remarks are the latest from rank-and-file GOP senators who have grumbled publicly about the process even as their leadership has vowed to steam ahead. 
   
   Last week, Republicans discussed insurance market stabilization in the short term as well as how to overhaul Medicaid and wind down its expansion. One proposal being floated would phase out the law's Medicaid expansion over three years beginning in 2020 or 2021 and eventually curb the Medicaid growth rate more strictly than the House-passed bill, but that proposal has not yet been agreed on. 
   
   This week, Republicans will discuss how far to cut Obamacare's regulatory regime and how much to beef up the House bill's tax credits to help people buy insurance. Conservatives want to gut the regulations as much as possible; there is more consensus on the tax credits but not necessarily how to pay for them. 
   
   There is no guarantee the legislation will pass given the party divisions. But McConnell has made clear to associates he prefers not to let the bill linger so the Senate can turn to funding the government, raising the debt ceiling and rewriting the tax code, according to people who speak with him regularly. ||||| WASHINGTON—Senate GOP leaders have set a timeline to vote next week on legislation to repeal large chunks of the Affordable Care Act, even though they don’t yet appear to have secured enough support to pass it. 
   
   Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) is intent on keeping pressure on Senate Republicans to move quickly on the bill rolling back and replacing much of the 2010 health law, lawmakers and GOP aides said. The push for a quick vote before the weeklong July 4 recess could backfire, however, as some conservative and...
target: – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is aiming to hold a vote on the Senate's version of ObamaCare repeal-and-replace legislation next week—despite the fact that many GOP senators haven't seen it yet, let alone said they will support it. Insiders tell the Wall Street Journal that although McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes, he wants to wrap it up before the July 4 recess so the chamber can move on, and he is gambling that the pressure will make it easier for the GOP to reach a consensus. The Journal notes that if the bill fails to pass before the recess, lawmakers returning home could face "pressure from constituents." The bill is being crafted behind closed doors and sources tell Politico that the text should be ready this week, giving lawmakers around a week to review it before the vote. In contrast, the chamber debated the ObamaCare bill for a month in 2009. The Hill reports that McConnell has focused on winning over moderate Republicans, though conservatives in the House say the bill will die there unless the Senate keeps provisions including the phasing out of ObamaCare's extra Medicaid funding by 2020. "It's close," says GOP Sen. Richard Burr. "Everybody's been counting [votes] since the beginning. It's been close since the beginning." Democrats have slammed the GOP for failing to hold hearings, and plan to "embarrass the heck out of Republicans, who are as much in the dark as we are about their own leadership's plans on the bill," says Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned Monday that Democrats will delay Senate business unless the GOP allows open debate on the legislation.