Trump, GOP struggle to find healthcare votes

[corbe]

Trump, GOP struggle to find healthcare votes

 By Scott Wong - 03/21/17 08:30 PM EDT  

House Republican leaders on Tuesday struggled to pick up votes for their ­ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill, even after President Trump visited Capitol Hill to sell the plan.

With only a day before a scheduled vote on the House floor, the White House and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) are facing an uphill climb to get the majority — 216 votes — needed to clear the lower chamber.

In a closed-door meeting with House Republicans, Trump warned that failure to pass the legislation might trigger a backlash for the GOP in the 2018 midterm elections. Republicans, the president said, could lose their seats next year, give Democrats the majority and derail Trump’s ambitious 2017 agenda if they fail to fulfill their campaign promise of repealing ­ObamaCare, said sources in the room.

But Trump’s dire warning didn’t appear to immediately change many minds. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), whom Trump singled out during the meeting, emerged from a private meeting with Vice President Pence Tuesday afternoon, insisting that he was still opposed and that he had at least 22 votes from conservative hard-liners to defeat the bill. Following the meeting, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) also said they remain opposed.

According to The Hill’s Whip List at press time, 22 House Republicans were firm “no” votes, with six more leaning no or likely no. Many other Republicans have not said how they will vote. Should all members vote and all Democrats — as expected — vote no, 22 defections would kill the legislation. The bill is scheduled to hit the floor at some point on Thursday.

A pair of Freedom Caucus members, Reps. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) and Andy Harris (R-Md.), added their names to the list of “no” votes on Tuesday, while Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), one of the earliest Trump supporters on Capitol Hill, also said he would reject the measure.

Barletta told reporters he’ll remain a no unless the bill adds tougher screenings to ensure that those receiving tax credits are in the country legally. But he said GOP leaders have been unrelenting in lobbying him.

“They’ve been talking to me all day, and we’ll be talking again tonight,” Barletta said.

Shortly after the Trump gathering, Meadows held a midday huddle with fellow Freedom Caucus members. The group of conservative rabble-rousers didn’t vote to take a formal position for or against the legislation, but they emerged from the meeting saying they remained firmly opposed. They maintain the bill doesn’t go far enough to repeal ­ObamaCare provisions.

“The bill needs to change,” Meadows told The Hill. “The insurance regulations and mandates, the essential health benefits need to be repealed.”

Leadership has “maintained the general framework of ­ObamaCare. They haven’t fixed the real problems with ­ObamaCare, and then they expect us to vote for it?” asked Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a Freedom Caucus co-founder.

“It’s unreasonable and unrealistic.”

There were a few bright spots for leadership, however.

After GOP leaders rolled out a package of tweaks to the bill Monday night, four reluctant Republicans — Reps. Martha McSally (Ariz.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Tom MacArthur (N.J.) and Robert Aderholt (Ala.) — issued a joint press release saying they supported the changes and underlying bill.

And there appeared to be small cracks forming in the House Freedom Caucus wall of opposition. Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), another caucus co-founder, told reporters he definitely would support the bill on the floor, just like he did in the Ways and Means Committee last week.

Yet Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.), who voted for the bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee, is now a no. Democrats are targeting Lance, who represents a district their presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, won in the fall.

Meanwhile, conservative Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) and Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) told The Hill they were looking to find a way to support it. Both said they needed the bill to repeal ­ObamaCare’s minimum coverage requirements.

The White House will be engaged in a full-court press over the next day as it tries to push the American Health Care Act over the finish line.

While Pence, a former member of House leadership, worked on Meadows in the Capitol, Rick Dearborn, one of Trump’s deputy chiefs of staff, was holed up in DesJarlais’s office asking the congressman what he needed to support the bill. There was no agreement after 45 minutes, DesJarlais said.

Back at the White House, Trump hosted a dozen members of the centrist Tuesday Group, including co-chairs MacArthur, Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) also joined the meeting. Attendees characterized it as a good meeting, but it didn’t appear that Trump flipped any votes.

“We are very happy with where we are and how productive our conversations with members are,” said a GOP leadership aide. “Our whip team is moving members in the right direction and doing the work to have a good vote this week.”

At the Capitol earlier in the day, Trump laid out in plain terms what’s at stake for Republicans if they fall short on repeal.

“He told us if we don’t pass this bill on Thursday, it will put everything in jeopardy that he wants to do, his agenda,” Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) said.

He also singled out Meadows during the private meeting, saying in jest: “Oh Mark, I’m coming after you.”

Speaking to reporters as he left the meeting, Trump predicted victory.

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http://thehill.com/homenews/house/325114-trump-gop-struggle-to-find-healthcare-votes

[Frank Cannon]

Barletta told reporters he’ll remain a no unless the bill adds tougher screenings to ensure that those receiving tax credits are in the country legally. But he said GOP leaders have been unrelenting in lobbying him.

God Bless ya Lou. It's time to let Ryancare die so that Obamacare can die.

[montanajoe]

Barletta told reporters he’ll remain a no unless the bill adds tougher screenings to ensure that those receiving tax credits are in the country legally. But he said GOP leaders have been unrelenting in lobbying him.

God Bless ya Lou. It's time to let Ryancare die so that Obamacare can die.

Seems that letting Obamacare die on the vine is the best option because there is not enough votes to repeal it and not enough votes to pass Trumpcare.

Question is whether the GOP can convince the voters that they actually elected them to do nothing