--- title: AHCA: GOP Congressman Calls Celebration 'Irresponsible' description: Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher said it was "irresponsible" for Republicans to celebrate after their health care bill passed the House canonical: https://time.com/4771710/gop-mike-gallagher-white-house-ahca-irresponsible/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-09T00:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:49:00.642Z article:section: Politics og:title: GOP Congressman Calls Celebration Over Health Care Bill 'Irresponsible' og:description: "What are we celebrating? We haven't passed a bill into law." og:url: https://time.com/4771710/gop-mike-gallagher-white-house-ahca-irresponsible/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb96710326a61476/6988cc7e86f68e3adb6e49ab/republican-white-house-celebration.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: GOP Congressman Calls Celebration Over Health Care Bill 'Irresponsible' twitter:description: "What are we celebrating? We haven't passed a bill into law." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb96710326a61476/6988cc7e86f68e3adb6e49ab/republican-white-house-celebration.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # GOP Congressman Calls White House Celebration Over Health Care Bill 'Irresponsible'  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 9, 2017 12:00 AM UTC  President Donald Trump speaks with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., Vice President Mike Pence, and other House congressmen by his side in the White House Rose Garden after the House pushed through a health care bill, on May 4, 2017. President Donald Trump speaks with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., Vice President Mike Pence, and other House congressmen by his side in the White House Rose Garden after the House pushed through a health care bill, on May 4, 2017.Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 9, 2017 12:00 AM UTC Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher said Monday that [it was “irresponsible](http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/08/politics/kfile-gop-congressman-acha-celebration/index.html)” for members of his party to celebrate at the White House after their health care bill [passed the House](http://time.com/4768740/democrats-health-care-vote/) last week. Gallagher, who voted for the bill, criticized members of both parties for “using issues like this to raise money or just a way to get in power,” noting that Democrats [chanted and taunted Republicans](http://time.com/4767631/hey-hey-goodbye-healthcare-bill/) on the House floor after the vote, suggesting they would [lose their seats](http://time.com/4768740/democrats-health-care-vote/) in the midterm elections. “They were celebrating the vote going forward because they feel like it allowed them to get an electoral advantage and, honestly, the Republicans who went to celebrate at the White House — I disagree with that approach,” Gallagher said Monday in an interview on a [local Wisconsin radio show](http://wtaq.com/podcasts/the-jerry-bader-show/921/8th-district-congressman-mike-gallagher-on-healthcare-more/). “What are we celebrating? We haven’t passed a bill into law. The [Senate’s gonna re-write this thing](http://time.com/4769420/ahca-health-care-senate-vote/). I’ve never seen the Packers pop the champagne at halftime. I just think that’s irresponsible. And so I just would urge both sides to just lay down the traditional kind of political weapons if we can because this is a really complex topic and we need serious people working together to fix it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4771710/gop-mike-gallagher-white-house-ahca-irresponsible/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4771710/gop-mike-gallagher-white-house-ahca-irresponsible/"},"headline":"GOP Congressman Calls White House Celebration Over Health Care Bill 'Irresponsible'","datePublished":"2017-05-09T00:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:49:00.642Z","description":"\"What are we celebrating? 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