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House Republican leaders on Thursday moved one step closer to passing legislation replacing much of the Affordable Care Act, as the House Budget Committee approved the bill despite opposition from the panel’s most conservative members. The 19-17 committee vote moved the bill closer to debate in the full House, which could begin as early as next week. But the “no’’ votes from three conservative Republicans signaled that the bill still faces challenges in the chamber. (Hackman, Peterson and Armour, 3/16)

Reps. Dave Brat, R-Va., Mark Sanford, R-S.C., and Gary Palmer, R-Ala., joined Democrats and voted against moving the legislation forward. The three lawmakers are all members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of roughly 40 hardline conservatives who have criticized the bill in its current form, mostly on the grounds that it does not go far enough in repealing Obamacare and does not do so quickly enough. (Collins, 3/16)

The close vote illustrated the problems Republican leaders may encounter in corralling enough votes in their party to win passage on the House floor amid unified Democratic opposition. The measure now goes to the Rules Committee before reaching the House floor. (Cornwell, 3/16)

The threat that conservatives might have stopped the bill in the Budget Committee prompted a full-court press from GOP leadership to keep members in line. “This is the conservative health care vision that we have been talking about for 10 years,” Budget Chairwoman Diane Black told her colleagues in an opening statement. “I encourage you, don’t cut off the discussion.” (Cancryn, 3/16)

Republicans and Democrats offered 10 non-binding motions during the markup. The Budget Committee does not have the authority to actually alter the bill’s language, so instead the motions were drafted to express the committee’s support for amendments to the legislation. (Williams, 3/16)

“We’re very pleased with where we are, because we are on track and on schedule,” Ryan said of the bill during a press conference on Thursday as the Budget Committee took its vote. “We made a promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. We’re going to keep our promise to the people that elected us.” (Daugherty and Pugh, 3/16)

The bill will now head to the House Rules Committee, where leadership might make amendments to appease conservatives and moderates unhappy with the current legislation. The Rules Committee will be the final stop before the bill reaches the floor. ... Along those lines, the committee approved four non-binding recommendations from Republicans that will be sent to the Rules Committee, including a work requirement for able-bodied adults enrolled in Medicaid and another that would gear the plan’s refundable tax credits toward low-income people. (Hellmann, 3/16)