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PREZ ‘OK’ AS HEALTH BILL FLOPS
SENATE REPUBLICANS were summoned to the White House on Tuesday in a desperate bid to resuscitate their Obamacare replacement bill after the GOP leadership postponed a critical vote on the legislation until after July 4.
President Trump’s all-handson-deck call came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would delay the vote until after the Independence Day recess.
“We have a chance to do something very important for the public,” Trump, surrounded by senators, said before kicking off the White House meeting. “If we don’t get it done, it’s just going to be something that we’re not going to like and that’s OK, and I understand that very well.”
McConnell said, “We’re delaying the process.
“Legislation of this complexity almost always takes longer than anybody hopes. We’re optimistic we’re going to get the result that’s better than the status quo,” he said.
McConnell and Republican leaders drafted the bill behind closed doors and only made it public last week with the goal of rushing toward a quick vote — even though the Senate majority leader had complained that Democrats passed the original Obamacare legislation too quickly. But Democrats held a number of open committee hearings and publicly shared the initial bill months before it passed.
McConnell delayed a roll call on the repeal bill after it became clear the Republicans did not have the necessary number of votes.
Senators boarded a charter bus for the 1½-mile trip from Capitol Hill to the White House, where they met with the President for about 90 minutes.
All Democratic senators have expressed opposition to the bill, which means McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes in order for the legislation to pass. Five have publicly voiced opposition.
Among the Republicans against the bill is Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who said Trump’s lack of military and legislative experience has made it difficult for him to forge a productive relationship with members of Congress.
Collins told reporters on Capitol Hill that Trump would have been better off coming out of the gate tackling an issue like infrastructure, which has bipartisan support.
“It has been a challenge for him to learn how to interact with Congress and how to put his agenda forward,” Collins said ahead of
the afternoon meeting.
“If the President wants to have a meeting with me, I’m certainly willing to go and listen to what he has to say. I have so many fundamental problems with the bill. It’s difficult to see how any tinkering is going to satisfy my fundamental and deep concerns.”
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller has voiced concerns about the bill, and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she is ready to start from scratch with Democrats.
Collins and Murkowski found themselves seated right next to the President, with Heller close by.
The division within the party has led to heated moments.
A political group operated by Trump allies has run ads against Heller and threatened more against other GOP senators opposed to the bill.
That infuriated McConnell, who called White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to label the attacks “beyond stupid.” The ads were taken down Tuesday night.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump is committed to repealing and replacing Obamacare.
“The President is optimistic that Republicans will live up to the promise they have made to the public for seven years to repeal and replace Obamacare,” Sanders said. After the meeting, McConnell told reporters that he didn’t see any point in trying to negotiate with Senate Democrats, because they will not produce any of the changes sought by Republicans.
“My suspicion is that any negotiation with the Democrats would include none of the reforms that we would like to make both on the market side and on the Medicaid side,” McConnell said. “So for all of those reasons, we need to come up with a solution.”
But even though McConnell said he wouldn’t try to negotiate with the other side, Trump lashed out at Democrats for not cooperating.
“With ZERO Democrats to help, and a failed, expensive and dangerous ObamaCare as the Dems legacy, the Republican Senators are working hard!” Trump tweeted.
The bill hit a roadblock Monday, when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill would increase the number of people without health insurance by 22 million by 2026.
Democrats continued their attacks on the legislation.
“Until Republicans abandon that rotten core, they’re not going to succeed in winning the American people over,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “The ultimate reason this bill failed is because the American people didn’t like it.”
“The vote on the Senate GOP craven health care plan is delayed but the bill isn’t dead,” tweeted Sen. Cory Booker (D- N.J.). “The threat remains. We must fight until it is dead.”