--- title: Obamacare:Protesters Interrupt Hearing on Latest Repeal Bill description: Protests erupted as a Senate committee gathered for a hearing on the latest GOP proposal aimed at repealing former Obama's health care law. canonical: https://time.com/4956397/graham-cassidy-republican-health-care-protests/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-25T20:30:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:35:19.828Z article:section: Politics og:title: Protesters Dragged Out of Hearing on GOP Health Care Repeal Bill og:description: The Senate is headed toward a last-ditch repeal vote this week og:url: https://time.com/4956397/graham-cassidy-republican-health-care-protests/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb9e0fcc214eb1f3/6988df4a4ee2620d5130f24c/health-care-protests-senate-finance-committee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: health-care-protests-senate-finance-committee og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Protesters Dragged Out of Hearing on GOP Health Care Repeal Bill twitter:description: The Senate is headed toward a last-ditch repeal vote this week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb9e0fcc214eb1f3/6988df4a4ee2620d5130f24c/health-care-protests-senate-finance-committee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Protesters Got Dragged Out of a Hearing on the Republican Health Care Repeal Bill > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 25, 2017 8:30 PM UTC  A protester is led away by Capitol Hill police officers outside a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the latest Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Sept. 25, 2017. A protester is led away by Capitol Hill police officers outside a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the latest Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Sept. 25, 2017.Carlos Barria—REUTERS by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 25, 2017 8:30 PM UTC Protests erupted Monday in Washington as a Senate committee gathered for a hearing on [the latest Republican proposal](http://time.com/4955479/obamacare-repeal-replace/) aimed at repealing former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. The Senate Finance Committee was holding a hearing to address questions about [the legislation, known as Graham-Cassidy](http://time.com/4951982/graham-cassidy-cbo-score-obamacare/) for its architects, Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Just as the Senators settled in, chants of “No cuts to Medicaid, save our liberty!” echoed throughout the hearing room. Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, who chairs the committee, called for a brief recess until things calmed down. Still, protesters, some in wheelchairs, were carried and dragged out of the hearing room by U.S. Capitol police. Many of the protesters were affiliated with ADAPT, a grassroots’ disability rights’ activist group. The group shared images on social of its activists, as well as those from other groups, being arrested and carried away by officers. > [](https://twitter.com/NationalADAPT/status/912398009488551936) > [](https://twitter.com/JStein%5FVox/status/912377955946508288) The Senate is gearing up to vote on a last-ditch effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act before the window to do so under special Senate rules requiring only a simple majority expire at the end of the month. A handful of Republicans have expressed opposition to the Graham-Cassidy proposal, putting its future in jeopardy since Republicans can only afford to lose two of their members on the bill. **Read more**: [Obamacare Repeal Is on Life Support. These 5 Senators Could Decide Its Fate](http://time.com/4955791/graham-cassidy-republican-mccain/) While supporters of the bill have touted how it would shift health care policy away from the federal government and toward the states, opponents — which include a wide spectrum of medical groups and insurers — say it would result in steep drops in coverage and be costly for people with pre-existing conditions. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4956397/graham-cassidy-republican-health-care-protests/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4956397/graham-cassidy-republican-health-care-protests/"},"headline":"Protesters Got Dragged Out of a Hearing on the Republican Health Care Repeal Bill","datePublished":"2017-09-25T20:30:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:35:19.828Z","description":"The Senate is headed toward a last-ditch repeal vote this week","url":"https://time.com/4956397/graham-cassidy-republican-health-care-protests/","keywords":["Congress","Health Care","protests","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb9e0fcc214eb1f3/6988df4a4ee2620d5130f24c/health-care-protests-senate-finance-committee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb9e0fcc214eb1f3/6988df4a4ee2620d5130f24c/health-care-protests-senate-finance-committee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"health-care-protests-senate-finance-committee","caption":"A protester is led away by Capitol Hill police officers outside a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the latest Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. 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