Sen. Mike Lee changes course on the ‘best way’ to repeal ObamaCare

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has officially conceded defeat in his effort to force a Senate vote on repealing ObamaCare, which ended Monday night after a tense face-off with leadership.

Lee issued a joint statement with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday afternoon, about 12 hours after the junior Utah senator agreed to drop an ObamaCare repeal push that threatened to disrupt the highway bill debate.

Lee said Tuesday that the “best way” to pursue repeal of ObamaCare is through a budget tactic known as reconciliation.

{mosads}”The Majority Leader and I are committed to using reconciliation to repeal Obamacare in the 114th Congress,” Lee wrote in a statement.

That is a turnaround from Lee’s previous push to attach an ObamaCare repeal amendment to this week’s highway funding bill. He planned to force a vote using an arcane Senate procedure known as “the nuclear option.”

Lee offered a deal to McConnell on Monday night before the vote. In return for dropping his effort, Lee sought a promise from McConnell that he would pursue reconciliation. The procedure would require just 51 votes to send certain budget-related legislation to the president’s desk.

Republican budget-writers had already indicated that Congress could use reconciliation to repeal ObamaCare — a move that would have been far more likely if the healthcare law hadn’t won its Supreme Court battle last month.

Since then, Senate GOP leaders have frustrated some conservatives — including Lee — by saying ObamaCare is just one of the many options for reconciliation. The tool could also be used for policy areas such as tax reform, which some Republicans say would stand a greater chance of avoiding Obama’s veto pen.

McConnell’s statement on Tuesday reiterated that the Senate had already included “the necessary procedural tools” to repeal ObamaCare.

“We will continue our effort to use reconciliation — as the budget makes clear — to fulfill the promise we made to our constituents,” he wrote.

Lee’s agreement with McConnell on Tuesday has been met with praise from outside conservative groups intent on repealing the law.

“Thank you Senator Mike Lee for standing up to Senate leadership and forcing a vote on repealing ObamaCare through budget reconciliation, so it would only need a simple majority vote,” FreedomWorks wrote in a statement.