Defiant Republicans vowed that they would continue to slow-walk health care legislation, accusing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) of trying to force-feed the bill to a skeptical Senate and public.

Reid is “trying to jam the American people with this mysterious bill that no one’s seen … [and] it is our intention not to pass this bill easily,— Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said.

McConnell also sought to deflect blame onto the Democrats for the delays in passing a Defense Department spending bill. Republicans have employed numerous procedural tactics to try to draw out the health care debate. “The majority leader is in charge of the schedule. I mean, he’s the reason we’re doing the Defense bill in the middle of the health care bill,— McConnell said.

But he ultimately acknowledged that Republicans would use whatever procedural means necessary to stall the health care legislation. “I think we’ve made it rather clear we’re not going to expedite consideration of the health care bill. … I don’t think anybody in the room has missed it. We don’t think this bill ought to pass, and we’re not in a hurry to complete it,— he said.