A US Senate hearing on a Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act has been disrupted by protests, as Capitol Police forcibly removed a group of demonstrators in wheelchairs who were protesting proposed cuts to Medicaid.
“No cuts to Medicaid, save our liberty,” the protesters chanted on Monday afternoon. The action, which was organized by disability-rights group ADAPT, forced Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch to temporarily suspend the hearing for 15 minutes.
“If you want a hearing, you better shut up,” Hatch said, as the chants drowned out his attempts to start the session.
After returning the hearing to order, Hatch told protesters, “If you can’t be in order, then get the heck out of here.”
The Republican senator called the protesters “good fodder for Twitter,” proclaiming that the Senate panel is above such “shenanigans.”
Other senators on the panel, including co-author of the bill Sen. Bill Cassidy,…