It looks like 'Trumpcare' could clear its first major hurdle today

The House is finally set to vote on the American Health Care Act, the GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, after nearly two months of stalled attempts at passage.

The vote is expected around 2 p.m ET.

The House Rules Committee cleared the AHCA late Wednesday after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters the bill would be brought to the floor, setting up a vote early Thursday afternoon.

The vote is expected to be close, with several Republicans still expressing concerns about the bill's potential effects on people with preexisting conditions.

Despite the narrow count, McCarthy appeared confident on Wednesday that the bill would pass.

"Do we have the votes? Yes," McCarthy said. "Will we pass it? Yes."

The White House appears similarly confident in the bill's passage. A White House aide told attendees at a dinner with religious leaders that Republicans felt confident they had 218 votes in the House and could have as many as 220, according to Billy House and Anna Edgerton at Bloomberg. The bill needs 216 votes to pass.

Some representatives have gone to extreme lengths in the blitz to secure the votes. Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who underwent foot surgery last week in Utah, flew back to Washington, DC, on Wednesday for the vote.

Conservatives are highly anticipating the vote, as the bill's passage would be a major hurdle in delivering on their seven-year promise to gut Obamacare, the healthcare law officially called the Affordable Care Act.

"I'll take around 2,000 votes this Congress. Most of them will be forgotten," Rep. Ted Budd told Politico on Wednesday. "This is not one of those votes. This vote marks the beginning of the end of Obamacare as we know it."

The AHCA, also known as "Trumpcare," was first called to the House floor on March 24 only to be pulled at the last minute when House GOP leaders could not persuade enough members of their party to vote for the bill.

Since that failure, two amendments have been added to win over recalcitrant members of the party — one aimed at conservatives and another at the party's more centrist members. Here's a quick rundown of the two additions:

win over the conservative House Freedom Caucus
being charged more
The Upton amendment:
the amendment
likely wouldn't be enough

The current iteration of the AHCA does not have a score from the Congressional Budget Office, so it is unclear how the two major changes to the bill could affect the federal budget, Americans' insurance coverage, or long-term insurance premiums. Upton told reporters he wished he had the CBO score, but since it would take a few weeks to get, Republicans would forge on without it.

The lack of clarity has drawn extensive criticism from Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

"Forcing a vote without a CBO score shows that Republicans are terrified of the public learning the full consequences of their plan to push Americans with preexisting conditions into the cold," Pelosi said.

Even with the additions, the legislation has also drawn the ire of a large swath of the major medical groups in the country, including the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, Blue Shield of California, AARP, and more.

Passage in the House would not guarantee smooth sailing for the AHCA in the Senate. The upper chamber is expected to make significant changes to the bill, as many GOP senators have expressed concern about various aspects of it. Some arcane chamber rules, such as the Byrd rule, may make passage difficult as well.

It looks like 'Trumpcare' could clear its first major hurdle today

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