» Repeal and replace:
Conservatives in GOP rebel on health care plan.
WASHINGTON - Republicans confronted a conservative rebellion in their own party Tuesday over their long-promised plans to repeal and replace the health care law, and beseeched President Donald Trump to settle the dispute.
“He’s the leader on this issue right now; he’s the one that’s got to hold us together,” said Rep. Dennis Ross of Florida as he left a meeting during which he said Republican leaders urged the rank-and-file to “stay strong” on the issue and told them: “Now is not the time to back down.”
The pep talk from leadership came amid signs of serious trouble for the emerging House GOP health care plan even before legislation is officially released. Conservatives are objecting to new tax credits that would help consumers buy health care, arguing they amount to a costly new entitlement.
Influential House conservatives say there’s no way the approach can pass the House.
The dispute comes a month into Trump’s presidency, and seven years after the Affordable Care Act passed a Democraticcontrolled Congress with Barack Obama in the White House. Now the Republicans are in charge of the White House and Congress. Yet, having spent all those intervening years promising to uproot the law and replace it with something better, they find themselves flailing and divided at the moment of truth.
House Speaker Paul Ryan sought to put a positive face on the divisions.
Ryan insisted the White House and Congress are working together on a plan to repeal and replace the health care law.
The Wisconsin Republican told reporters on Tuesday that there “aren’t rival plans.” But he acknowledged the divisions, saying there will be “churning” in any legislative process.
“I feel at the end of the day when we get everything done and right, we’re going to be unified,” he said.
For now, most evidence is to the contrary.
After a recess week filled with raucous town hall meetings, lawmakers’ return to the Capitol this week immediately put deep divisions on display. The two leading conservative groups in the House both announced their opposition to House leadership health care plans based on a leaked draft and reports that the bill would cost more than expected while covering fewer people than the Affordable Care Act.
And three key conservative senators, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas, added their voices in opposition, too, announcing that they will resist “Obamacare Lite” and “accept nothing less than full repeal of Obamacare.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky summoned Republicans to a meeting Wednesday afternoon to hash things out.
“The goal is for the administration, the House and the Senate to be in the same place,” he said on health care. “We’re not there yet.”
Health care is far from the only issue dividing Republicans. Plans to overhaul the tax code have them tied in knots, and senior lawmakers are busy throwing cold water on Trump’s budget proposal, which was made public in broad outlines on Monday. The budget envisions a huge $54 billion surge in U.S. military spending while slashing domestic programs and foreign aid.
Asked Tuesday whether the Senate could pass a budget that slashes the State Department budget by a third as Trump envisions, McConnell replied shortly: “Probably not.”
GOP Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, said the budget as presented could not possibly pass the House, either.
“No, no. There’s a lot of members that have a lot of interest in a lot of these programs,” Simpson said. “There’s more to our government than just defense.”