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President Donald Trump is pressuring wavering senators to back a Republican bill to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's health care law but is holding open a repeal-only option if Republicans can't reach agreement over the July 4 recess, Trump's top legislative aide says. Marc Short, the White House's legislative director, said Trump was making weekend calls and believed senators were "getting close" on passing a bill.
President Donald Trump is making a weekend push to get a Republican Senate bill to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's health care law "across the finish line," Trump's top legislative aide said Sunday, maintaining that a repeal-only option also remained in play if Republicans can't reach agreement. Marc Short, the White House's legislative director, said Trump was making calls to wavering senators and insisted they were "getting close" on passing a bill.
Before that, any senator could bring the work of the Senate on a bill to a temporary halt by filibustering i.e., by talking and talking interminably until the bill was withdrawn or a sufficient supermajority of senators voted cloture . After cloture, passing the bill would require a majority to vote in favor.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks to the audience at the Lincoln Day Dinner, Friday, June 30, 2017, in Elizabethtown, Ky. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks to the audience at the Lincoln Day Dinner, Friday, June 30, 2017, in Elizabethtown, Ky.
President Donald Trump barged into Senate Republicans' delicate health care negotiations Friday, declaring that if lawmakers can't reach a deal they should simply repeal "Obamacare" right away and then replace it later on. Trump's tweet revives an approach that GOP leaders and the president himself considered but dismissed months ago as impractical and politically unwise.
Trump says: "If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!" That's an approach advocated by Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who's said he opposes the bill, which would do both at once. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell postponed a vote on the bill Tuesday because of opposition from conservatives and moderates.
We now have the answer to a question that has hung in the air for months: Why did the Republican leadership not have an Obamacare repeal-and-replace plan on the shelf and ready to go the minute the election went their way? Why didn't they use the time since the law's 2010 passage to craft the Republican alternative? The charitable answer would be: ... (more)
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Republican lawmakers are still at odds over a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. "There's still quite a bit of disagreement," he said.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE SENATE'S HEALTH CARE BILL A deal appears to be nowhere in sight . "We're at an impasse," Sen. Rand Paul told HuffPost to voice their displeasure with the Senate's version of the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The top U.S. Senate Republican struggled on Wednesday to salvage major healthcare legislation sought by President Donald Trump, meeting privately with a parade of skeptical senators as critics within the party urged substantial changes. Republican leaders hope to agree on changes to the legislation by Friday so lawmakers can take it up after next week's Independence Day recess..
It was a platform most politicians can only hope for: A captivated, 6,000-person crowd and more than an hour of live, prime-time television coverage to hype the Republican vision for a new health care system. But when President Donald Trump got around to talking about the Republican plan - about 15 minutes into his speech - he was wildly off message.
Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events Sen. Dean Heller at a Las Vegas news conference June 23 where he announced he will vote against the proposed GOP health-care bill When Sen. Dean Heller came out in opposition to the health-care legislation last week, it was a surprise that, in hindsight, shouldn't have been a surprise. Heller is an extreme version of the five to six senators who just politically can't vote for the bill, mostly because they fear it will yank away health care for hundreds of thousands in their respective states.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, left, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-... . Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, and Senate Majority Whip Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas speak with the media after they and other Senate Republicans had a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, ... .
President Donald Trump says he is a master of the "art of the deal," but does he need to be as close as possible to those he is trying to strike a deal with? Republican senators gathered at the White House on Tuesday afternoon for an impromptu meeting with the President after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would be postponing the vote on the health care bill until after the July 4 recess. Eight Republican senators have said they will not vote for the bill and many of those opposing the current version were at the meeting.
In a bruising setback, Senate Republican leaders shelved a vote on their prized health care bill Tuesday until at least next month, forced to retreat by a GOP rebellion that left them lacking enough votes to even begin debate. "We will not be on the bill this week," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters in what was a remarkable reversal of plans to push one of President Donald Trump's and the GOP's top priorities through the chamber this week.
Senate Republicans have their version of a plan to replace Obamacare, following their colleagues in the House who narrowly passed a replacement measure with no Democratic support. Senate Republicans have their version of a plan to replace Obamacare, following their colleagues in the House who narrowly passed a replacement measure with no Democratic support.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act would reduce federal spending by $321 billion by 2026 - compared with $119 billion for the House's version. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act would reduce federal spending by $321 billion by 2026 - compared with $119 billion for the House's version.
Senate Republicans struggling to boost support for their "Obamacare" repeal bill were dealt a damaging blow Monday with the release of a non-partisan report forecasting that the plan would leave 22 million more Americans uninsured by 2026. The legislation introduced last week by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was already in jeopardy, with support for the health care plan stalling within his own party despite expressions of optimism by President Donald Trump.
Despite campaign promises from then candidate Donald Trump as well as from incumbent and new members of Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare, now almost six months into the Trump presidency, Obamacare is still the law of the land. Progress, albeit slow, was apparent this week as the Senate passed their version of a replacement, following the House doing the same two months ago.