Trump says he thinks passage of GOP health bill not far off
President asks why parties can’t work together in Senate.
Making a final push, President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think congressional Republicans are “that far off ” on a health overhaul to replace “the dead carcass of Obamacare.” Expressing frustration, he complained about “the level of hostility” in government and wondered why both parties can’t work together on the Senate bill as GOP critics expressed doubt over a successful vote this week.
It was the latest signs of high-stakes maneuvering over a key campaign promise, and the president signaled a willingness to deal.
“We have a very good plan,” Trump said in an interview broadcast Sunday on Fox News. Referring to Republican senators opposed to the bill, he added: “They want to get some points, I think they’ll get some points.”
Trump’s comments come amid the public opposition of five Republican senators so far to the Senate GOP plan that would scuttle much of former President Barack Obama’s health law.
Unless those holdouts can be swayed, their numbers are more than enough to torpedo the measure developed in private by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and deliver a bitter defeat for the president. That’s because unanimous opposition is expected from Democrats in a chamber in which Republicans hold a narrow 52-48 majority.
Trump bemoaned the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, having belittled prominent Democrats himself.
“It would be so great if the Democrats and Republicans could get together, wrap their arms around it and come up with something that everybody’s happy with,” the president said. “And I’m open arms; but, I don’t see that happening. They fight each other. The level of hostility.”
Trump has denigrated Democrats on numerous occasions, including a jab at Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the same interview: “She’s a hopeless case. I call her Pocahontas and that’s an insult to Pocahontas.” In a tweet last week after Georgia’s special House election, Trump also criticized House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. “I certainly hope the Democrats do not force Nancy P out. That would be very bad for the Republican Party — and please let Cryin’ Chuck stay!” he wrote.
In the broadcast interview, Trump did not indicate what types of changes to the Senate bill may be in store, but affirmed that he had described a Housepassed bill as “mean.”
“I want to see a bill with heart,” he said, confirming a switch from his laudatory statements about the House bill at a Rose Garden ceremony with House GOP leaders last month. “Healthcare’s a very complicated subject from the standpoint that you move it this way, and this group doesn’t like it.”
“And honestly, nobody can be totally happy,” Trump said.
McConnell has said he’s willing to make changes to win support, and that plenty of back-room bargaining is expected. He is seeking to push a package through the Senate before July 4.
The Senate bill resembles legislation the House approved last month, which recent polling shows only around 1 in 4 Americans views favorably.