“It perhaps is as much of a repeal as we can get done”, the caucus leader, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told reporters. In other words: Direct your tweets at them over the recess, Donald Trump-not at Freedom Caucus members.
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Chabot added that “cautiously optimistic may be a little strong” on the chances that recent wrangling between Republican moderates and conservative factions – with moderation from the White House – would lead to a deal.
GOP leaders speaking at Thursday’s press conference were careful to point out that while they think the amendment is a step forward, their work to build consensus on a healthcare bill is not done.
“Jordan’s pledge followed a Saturday tweet by President Donald Trump’s social media director, Dan Scavino Jr., who said Trump “is bringing auto plants & jobs back to MI”, and Amash is a “big liability”, urging “#TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary”.
White House officials are also facing swirling political dynamics in the House that they can not necessarily control, despite the relationships some of them have cultivated on Capitol Hill. He said that the Freedom Caucus needs to fight for the things they told Americans they would accomplish and pointed to increasing border security and defunding planned parenthood as examples. “Otherwise we’re stuck with the same situation.We’re not going to get everything we want in legislation”. Ryan suggested during a public appearance Wednesday that the health care talks would drag on well past Thursday, when House members are scheduled to start a two-week Easter recess.
At a forum Wednesday hosted by the website WisPolitics.com, Ryan said of a health care bill, “We can keep working this for weeks now”.
“I’m surprised we’ve been this incompetent”. There was a reason why the bill polled at only 17%, Jordan said, “we didn’t really have actual hearings.no amendments were accepted in the committee process – I think you had done all that you might have got a product that was better than 17% approval rating”.
On Tuesday, the White House arranged a meeting on short notice to discuss a potential health-care deal with leaders of influential conservative groups, including Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity; Jim DeMint, president of the Heritage Foundation; Michael Needham of Heritage Action; Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform; and Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union.
“It’s an issue of trying to craft a bill that can keep everyone on board”, said Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., a member of the Freedom Caucus who supported the initial legislation.
The driving force behind this round of negotiations appears to be the same as its been since Republicans took charge of the government: a need to shift the blame elsewhere for utterly failing to repeal and replace Obamacare, their solemn vow to voters for seven years now. Yet when the Freedom Caucus tried to push a 2015 bill that had once received unanimous Republican support, the party was not willing to put it before President Trump.
The plan Pence floated on Monday to the Freedom Caucus is far from final, and it would need to be drafted into a bill or and amendment before Congress could vote on it.
The slow death of Zombie Trumpcare 2.0 continues apace, and House Republicans will soon go home to their districts for a two-week recess empty-handed. But some moderate GOP congressmen have opposed it because it would too drastically roll back gains in insurance coverage seen under Obamacare.
The White House offer got an uneven reception Tuesday from GOP moderates and conservatives, leaving prospects shaky that the party could salvage one of its leading priorities in Congress. He said talks were in “the conceptual stage”. When one reporter asked him a question about something he’d explained earlier, he said, “Are you late to the conversation here?”
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Representative Patrick McHenry on Wednesday said the idea of allowing states to waive requirements for covering people with pre-existing conditions is a “bridge too far for our members” and can not get enough votes to pass, the Hill magazine reported.
