Senate

Wyoming Republican fires back at Reid

by Jordain Carney - 04/29/15 1:14 PM ET

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) fired back Wednesday at Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who criticized him earlier this week on Obamacare.

“[Reid] had some nice things to say about me on Monday,” the Wyoming Republican said. “Well, I appreciate the minority leader’s kind remarks.”

{mosads}Barrasso, citing a story from the Las Vegas Review-Journal entitled “Past State Obamacare Sign-Up Glitches Haunt Nevadans at Tax Time,” said that Nevadans have had “their lives turned upside down” under Obama’s law.

“People are having their lives turned upside down by the disgraceful failure of this Obamacare exchange,” he said. “It’s a fact that people now have coverage and can’t have access to care.”

He added that the minority leader is right that Republicans have been “relentless” in their criticism of the law.

“So the minority leader is correct, Republicans have been relentless in condemning the horrifying costs of the president’s health care law,” he said. “Republicans have been relentless in condemning the intolerable damage that the health care law has done to people’s access to health care.”

The Nevada Democrat used Barrasso as an example of Republican lawmakers who he suggested were unable to accept the success of President Obama’s signature health law.

“The junior Senator from Wyoming, for example, has been relentless in his condemnation of Obamacare – before and after the bill was passed,” Reid said at the time. “He still comes to the Senate floor all the time with his charts and graphs and everything else. But even he avoids the facts. He is wrong.”

Reid’s remarks came after the Supreme Court struck down an earlier ruling favorable to the government’s birth control mandate under ObamaCare.

The high court asked an appeals court to reconsider a legal challenge filed by Catholic ministries against the mandate requiring employers to cover birth control for workers.

Tags Harry Reid John Barrasso