WASHINGTON (AP) — Making a final push, President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think congressional Republicans are “that far off” on a health overhaul to replace “the dead carcass of Obamacare.” Expressing frustration, he complained about “the level of hostility” in government and wondered why both parties can’t work together on the Senate bill as GOP critics expressed doubt over a successful vote this week.
It was the latest signs of high-stakes maneuvering over a key campaign promise, and the president signaled a willingness to deal.
“We have a very good plan,” Trump said in an interview broadcast Sunday. Referring to Republican senators opposed to the bill, he added: “They want to get some points, I think they’ll get some points.”
Trump’s comments come amid the public opposition of five Republican senators so far to the Senate GOP plan that would scuttle much of former President Barack Obama’s health law.
Unless those holdouts can be swayed, their numbers are more than enough to torpedo the measure developed in private by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and deliver a bitter defeat for the president. That’s because unanimous opposition is expected from Democrats in a chamber in which Republicans hold a narrow 52-48 majority.
Trump bemoaned the lack of bipartisanship in Washington.
“It would be so great if the Democrats and Republicans could get together, wrap their arms around it and come up with something that everybody’s happy with,” the president said. “And I’m open arms; but, I don’t see that happening. They fight each other. The level of hostility.”
Trump has denigrated Democrats on numerous occasions, including a jab at Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the same interview: “She’s a hopeless case. I call her Pocahontas and that’s an insult to Pocahontas.”
Warren, a leading liberal and defender of the Affordable Care Act, has opposed efforts to pass a bill to replace the law. The Democrat reiterated her opposition in a statement to the Associated Press on Sunday, saying the health care bill being pushed by Senate Republicans is a “monstrosity.”
In the broadcast interview, Trump did not indicate what types of changes to the Senate bill may be in store, but affirmed that he had described a House-passed bill as “mean.”
“I want to see a bill with heart,” he said, confirming a switch from his laudatory statements about the House bill at a Rose Garden ceremony with House GOP leaders last month. “Healthcare’s a very complicated subject from the standpoint that you move it this way, and this group doesn’t like it.”
“And honestly, nobody can be totally happy,” Trump said.
McConnell has said he’s willing to make changes to win support, and in the week ahead, plenty of backroom bargaining is expected. He is seeking to push a final package through the Senate before the July 4 recess.
At least two GOP senators said Sunday that goal may prove too ambitious.
“I would like to delay,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., one of the five senators opposing the bill. “These bills aren’t going to fix the problem. They’re not addressing the root cause,” he said, referring to rising health care costs. “They’re doing the same old Washington thing, throwing more money at the problem.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said seven to eight other senators including herself were troubled by provisions she believes could cut Medicaid even more than the House version.
Collins, who also opposes proposed cuts to Planned Parenthood, said she would await an analysis today from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office before taking a final position on the bill. But she said it will be “extremely difficult” for the White House to be able to find a narrow path to attract both conservatives and moderates.
“It’s hard for me to see the bill passing this week,” Collins said.
Addressing reporters Sunday, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican said passing a health care bill won’t get any easier if Republican leaders delay a Senate vote on the GOP health care plan. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said there is “a sense of urgency” to push forward but acknowledged the outcome is “going to be close.”