GOP lawmakers on Wednesday blasted the White House for the timing of its announcement that the online small-business exchange will be delayed by a year.
Word of the delay broke the day before Thanksgiving, mirroring a similar announcement by the administration prior to the Fourth of July earlier this year that delayed the requirement for large businesses to offer insurance to their workers.
{mosads}House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) accused the White House of trying to bury the delay when much of the public is not following the news.
“Once again, President Obama has unilaterally delayed another major portion of ObamaCare, and once again, he has tried to bury bad news around a holiday hoping nobody will notice,” Cantor said in a statement. “These are hardly the actions of a transparent Administration.”
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) brought up the strategically timed delay earlier this year and asserted “Turkey is not the only thing being carved at the White House this Thanksgiving.”
“As Americans prepare to celebrate and give thanks with their families, the administration announces yet another carefully timed delay of its signature health care law,” he said in a statement. “Just as it did over July 4 while we celebrated our independence, today the administration is doing its best to bury the latest confirmation that this law was not ready for prime time.”
A number of other GOP lawmakers on Twitter reacted similarly.
Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) asked what the White House is planning to announce before Christmas, given the timing of Wednesday’s announcement.
Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) also noted the timing.
Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) also called the delay carefully timed.
It is common practice for politicians to release unflattering information late in the week or when much of the public is not paying attention. It even inspired an episode of “The West Wing” titled, “Take out the Trash Day.”