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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — Democrats vowed on Monday to slow work in the Senate to a crawl to protest the secrecy surrounding the Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, as Republican leaders raced to prepare a bill for a vote as soon as next week. Without the votes to stop the majority party from passing a bill, Democrats can only draw attention to the way Republicans are creating their bill — behind closed doors without a single hearing or public bill-drafting session. Senate Republican leaders hope for a showdown vote before lawmakers leave town at the end of next week, an ambitious timeline that would spare Republicans from constituent pressure over the Fourth of July recess. Democrats fear that Republicans will unveil a bill that would have sweeping effects on health care, then within days try to pass it with only limited debate. “Every Republican is trying to get to yes,” Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, a member of the Senate Republican leadership, said Monday on Fox News, expressing his belief that the Senate would vote on a repeal bill before the recess. He acknowledged that “there are some differences of opinion on specific details of this.” If Republicans do not hold a vote before the Fourth of July, Democrats hope the pressure over the recess will weaken support. Then lawmakers would have just three weeks to pass a Senate bill and work out differences with the House before the planned August recess. The Trump administration also wants Cong... Link to the full article to read more