Sen. Johnson optimistic GOP can pass health care reform before recess
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Friday he remains optimistic that Republicans will be able to pass health care reform legislation, arguing that leadership from President Donald Trump has kick-started the effort.
“We’re not giving up, I’m not giving up,” Johnson, an Oshkosh Republican, told the Waukesha County Business Alliance luncheon.
In wide-ranging remarks, Johnson discussed the upcoming GOP push for tax reform, boosting economic growth and U.S. relations with North Korea.
Afterward, Johnson briefed reporters and said that a White House meeting Tuesday with Trump showed “real leadership” from the president, who urged GOP senators to repeal and replace Obamacare before leaving for the August recess.
Johnson made his appearance just days after two more Republican senators came out in opposition to the current health care draft, causing Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to acknowledge that he did not have enough votes to even start debate on the bill.
Among the senators expressing reservations about the draft bill was Johnson, who said it did not do enough to reduce the cost of premiums and roll back Medicaid spending.
Johnson also was one of the biggest advocates for delaying the vote in June, saying senators and their constituents needed more time to understand the effects of the bill before it went to a vote.
He reiterated his concerns at the luncheon Friday that premiums will continue to rise if insurers are forced to cover patients with high-cost pre-existing conditions instead of having states establish high-risk pools to cover those patients.
Despite his objections to the current health care draft, Johnson said the lunch meeting between Trump and the Senate GOP has encouraged him to get legislation passed before the summer ends.
Johnson said he will still remain firm on pushing for legislation that will improve the health care situation in the U.S. He noted he would not vote against a bill just because it was imperfect.
“If it puts us in a better position tomorrow than we are today, I’ll support it,” he said.
Later, when asked about reports that Trump has asked lawyers about the possibility of pardoning those caught up in the probe of Russia influencing the 2016 election, Johnson said he did not want to speculate on such matters.
But he said while he supports the Senate Intelligence Committee conducting an investigation and does not oppose the appointing of special counsel, he said he thinks the appointment was done too soon.
“The problem with special counsels, or special prosecutors, is they run amok,” Johnson said. “They start going on witch hunts, and we have enormous challenges facing this nation.”
“I don’t think we (can) afford to be distracted by special counsel going on witch hunts in all different kind of areas, unrestrained by basic prosecutorial discretion,” he said.