Playing point man
Prez ready to wrest control from Ryan: pundit
The demise of the Republican health-care bill could push the Trump administration to drive the bus on its next big agenda items — and keep House Speaker Paul Ryan’s hands off the wheel.
“They’ll be much more involved to get certain things they’re looking for,” GOP consultant Susan del Percio told The Post. “Don’t underestimate the potential for Trump to reach out to Democrats and moderate Republicans to cut a deal.”
Tax reform, the next major Trump goal, will have to originate in the House of Representa- tives, but some pundits said the health-care collapse will force a strategic shift.
“Look for the White House to . . . set the policy and work the members from the beginning, undercutting Ryan,” predicted Mike Allen on Axios.com.
And congressional conservatives could try to leapfrog the damaged speaker on health care. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio are all proposing “clean repeal” bills that, they say, would ditch ObamaCare and construct a new system from scratch.
While the White House quickly switched rhetorical gears to talk taxes in the wake of Friday’s embarrassing failure, Trump didn’t let go of the health-care issue.
“ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE,” he tweeted Saturday morning. “Do not worry!”
Vice President Mike Pence boosted the same theme.
“Every day ObamaCare survives is another day Americans suffer,” Pence said after meeting with small-business owners in Charleston, W.Va.
Even without the Ryan plan, the administration can take action to hasten the ObamaCare “death spiral” that Trump has predicted.
Much of ObamaCare’s structure relies on regulations issued by new Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price — who is now its long-term foe.
The Trump administration can decide whether to stop paying billions in cost-sharing subsidies that help reduce deductibles. Republicans have challenged the subsidies in court, and insurance companies say the system would collapse without them.
Trump’s IRS could also ease up on enforcing the tax penalties paid by those who choose not to buy health insurance.