WMAL Interview - SUSAN FERRECHIO - 08.07.17

INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO — chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner

Congress takes summer recess, leaves behind ObamaCare, looming spending, debt issues. (Fox News) — Congress has left Washington for the summer with a trail of unfinished business and several immediate concerns when they return in September — increasing the federal debt limit and passing a temporary spending bill to avert a government shutdown. The effort by the Republican-led Congress to repeal and replace ObamaCare appears dead for now, despite President Trump goading leaders to try again to give him a major legislative victory. “We’ve pivoted to tax reform and I think we’ve got to stay on that,” Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Friday. GOP House leaders passed their ObamaCare overhaul bill in May. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried and failed several times since early July to present a bill that at least 50 of his 52 GOP senators could support and pass. With passage appearing at least possible last month, the Kentucky Republican boldly required senators to stay on Capitol Hill for the first two weeks of their August recess. But after a series of repeal and-or replace measures failed in recent weeks, lawmakers returned to their home states, with some taking overseas trips as part of congressional delegations.   Congress must increase the debt limit to prevent a jarring federal default.