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Republican blames women for party's failure to pass healthcare bill

Representative Blake Farenthold says 'female senators from the northeast' are holding up the Republican agenda: YouTube
Representative Blake Farenthold says 'female senators from the northeast' are holding up the Republican agenda: YouTube

Republicans in Congress are increasingly frustrated with their stalled legislative agenda, and one Texas representative has found the people to blame: his female colleagues.

“The fact that the Senate does not have the courage to do some of the things that every Republican in the Senate promised to do is just absolutely repugnant to me,” Texas Representative Blake Farenthold said recently on a local radio show. “Some of the people that are opposed to this, they’re some female senators from the northeast.”

“If it was a guy from south Texas I might ask them to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style,” he added, in a reference to a famed American gun battle.

Mr Farenthold appeared to be directing his comments toward Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is the only female Republican senator from the northeast.

Ms Collins last week announced her opposition to a GOP plan to repeal Obamacare without a replacement. She was joined by Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, leaving the leadership shy of the 50 “yes” votes needed to advance the bill to the Senate floor.

Repealing and replacing Obamacare has been a fixture of Republican campaigns since the law was signed seven years ago. Their failure to carry out this campaign promise has frustrated law makers like Mr Farenthold, and driven President Donald Trump to mount attacks on members of his own party.

Ms Collins was the only female Republican to oppose the GOP’s original bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, deemed the “Better Care Reconciliation Act”. Male senators Jerry Moran, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul all announced their opposition was well, effectively killing the bill without a floor vote.

Arizona Senator John McCain, currently on leave while receiving treatment for brain cancer, also urged his Republican colleagues to reconsider the bill. Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson both opposed the bill in its early stages.

Mr Cruz and Mr Lee, however, both served on the Republican working group created to draft the legislation. Ms Collins, Ms Murkowski and Ms Capito were not included in the 13-member group – in fact, no women were.

“The working group that counts is all 52 of us,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said at the time. “Nobody is being excluded based upon gender ... Everybody's at the table. Everybody.”

The group later invited Ms Capito to attend a meeting.