Convinced there’s a way to move forward on the Republicans’ promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Donald Trump hopes to change the minds of Republican senators over lunch at the White House today.
Trump and Republican senators will talk health care and other issues two days after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded that the effort to repeal and immediately provide replacement legislation for Obamacare “would be unsuccessful.”
A senior White House official told ABC News the lunch was entirely Trump’s idea.
“He wants one last shot” to persuade the GOP senators otherwise, according to the official.
Trump plans on making the case that the repeal and replacement of Obama’s signature health care law is a promise the Republican Party made and they need to keep it.
When asked if Trump could or should have done more to help GOP senators’ efforts, the official said, “We’re not done yet.”
Trump and the White House yesterday deflected responsibility for the failure of the Senate GOP’s health care plan, largely blaming Democrats.
He acknowledged yesterday in a tweet that “a few Republican” defectors were partly to blame, apparently referring to GOP Sens. Susan Collins, Rand Paul, Jerry Moran and Mike Lee, who announced their opposition to the health care bill.
“For seven years, I’ve been hearing repeal and replace from Congress, and I’ve been hearing it loud and strong,” Trump told reporters at the White House yesterday. “And then when we finally get a chance to repeal and replace, they don’t take advantage of it.”
Several lawmakers, on the other hand, have opted to privately scold him for his lack of involvement and interaction with senators as they sought to bolster public support for the bill.
Trump revealed yesterday that he was “disappointed” with the failure of the Senate health care bill but said he doesn’t “think it’s dead.”
He proposed that his party should let the health care system “fail” so that Democrats and Republicans can “come together and fix it and come up with a new plan.”
McConnell said he plans to hold a vote in the Senate “early next week” on a measure that would repeal the Affordable Care Act and give lawmakers two years to work on a replacement.
Already, three GOP senators have come out against moving forward with this vote, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is still recovering from surgery at home.
Trump last hosted a group of GOP senators for lunch to talk health care on June 13 at the White House.
