Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Election vows hit reality wall
WASHINGTON — During his campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly promised voters a “big, beautiful wall,” an Obamacare replacement “immediately” and a new era for a Veterans Affairs agency that had “failed” service members.
He acknowledged Wednesday that none of it would be so simple.
Trump, who was often content to gloss over details while campaigning, is quickly grappling with the complexities of governing. Though Republicans will have majorities in the House and Senate and control of the White House for the first time in 10 years, fissures have begun to emerge on how to deliver on those campaign promises.
Repealing the Affordable Care Act, a Trump priority and the animating force within the GOP since the law passed six years ago, has run into roadblocks since Congress convened last week. The debate centers on whether to repeal immediately without a replacement plan, which would leave millions of Americans without health care.
Trump said he would produce his own plan as soon as his Health and Human Services secretary takes office — something that could take weeks — just one day after demanding that Republicans both repeal and replace the health law as soon as next week. He promised that both parts Donald Trump backed off a campaign pledge to get Mexico to pay for a wall right away, saying he was impatient to begin construction. It’s uncertain how his supporters will react. would happen together.
“It’ll be repeal and replace. It will be, essentially, simultaneously,” he said, calling such a move “very complicated stuff.”
Republican leaders have considered a more staggered approach where they would pass repeal legislation now that would allow them as much as two years and perhaps more time to develop a replacement.
Resistance is growing among Republicans to take a first step toward repeal, approving a procedural budget package. The move had been expected later this week, but some lawmakers are worried that it will set repeal in place before an alternative is ready. A preliminary whip count showed the budget vote was in trouble.
Trump again offered no details about what his plan might look like, other than promising to produce something “far less expensive and far better” than the current law. Just as importantly, Trump provided no indication of how he plans to get support from congressional Democrats, who will be needed to pass any replacement to Obamacare.
And after months in which he blasted the Obama administration for mismanagement at the Department of Veterans Affairs, his opening remarks included a surprise announcement: David Shulkin, a VA undersecretary, is his choice to lead the department.
And on the subject of the border wall, Trump reminisced about the call-andresponse at his rallies of “Who’s gonna pay for it?” “Mexico!”
But he backed off of his pledge that he would demand Mexico pay for the wall right away, saying he was impatient to begin construction but that talks with Mexico might take longer.
“I want to get the wall started,” he said. “I don’t want to wait a year-and-ahalf until I make my deal with Mexico.”