Trump proves what his supporters already know: He’s not a quitter. With the threat of Congressional members being forced to switch to ObamaCare, Trump pushes hard to fulfill his campaign promise.
Senate Republicans ended July in humiliating and seemingly final defeat over repealing and replacing ObamaCare, but relentless pressure this weekend from President Trump and reports of yet another potentially winning bill has sparked renewed hope of success within the party.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., reportedly has a new overhaul plan for the Senate, where senators will return Monday because Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has revoked the first two weeks of their traditional August recess.
Trump also met privately with several Senate Republicans on Friday, according to Politico, which also first reported about the Graham proposal.
The president then launched into a very public Twitter rant this weekend in which he said Senate Republicans “look like fools” for trying and failing for essentially the entire month to pass an overhaul plan.
The president — sounding desperate to fulfill a major campaign promise in ending ObamaCare — also suggested McConnell lower the vote threshold from 60 to 51 votes and that he might yank the subsidies that members of Congress receive to pay for their ObamaCare policies.
“The world is watching,” Trump said in a final, chiding tweet Sunday morning.
Beyond taking away Congress’ subsidies, Trump also hinted at ending subsidies to insurance companies that offer policies under ObamaCare.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told “Fox News Sunday” that Trump will make that decision “this week.”
She also called the subsidies received by congressional members and their staffers a “really sweet deal” and argued, “This is exactly what so many Americans hate about Washington, D.C.”
Trump and essentially every Washington Republican has been elected on a promise to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
The GOP-led House passed its overhaul measure this spring, but not without the same kinds of problems faced by the Republican-led Senate, including how to get support from all wings of the party.
They are divided on such key issues as whether Medicaid should be expanded and whether subsidies should continue to be provided to insurance companies, apparently for low-income families to pay for policies. –Fox News
