Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that senators made good progress with President Donald Trump at a meeting on the chamber’s healthcare bill – acknowledging the plan will receive no support from Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that senators “made good progress” with President Donald Trump at a meeting on the chamber’s healthcare bill – acknowledging the plan will receive no support from Democrats.
“The president got an opportunity to hear from the various members who have concerns about market reforms and Medicaid, the future of Medicaid, and Medicaid expansion, ” the Kentucky Republican told reporters with Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas outside the White House.
“The meeting was very helpful, ” he added. “The one thing I would say is that I think everybody around the table is interested in getting to ‘yes.’
“We’re interested in getting an outcome, because we know the status quo is simply unacceptable, unsustainable – and no action is just not an option.”
President Trump summoned the senators up to the White House after McConnell delayed a vote on the healthcare plan until after the Senate’s July 4 recess amid strong opposition from party members.
With ZERO Democrats to help, and a failed, expensive and dangerous ObamaCare as the Dems legacy, the Republican Senators are working hard!
I just finished a great meeting with the Republican Senators concerning HealthCare. They really want to get it right, unlike OCare!
McConnell said afterward “it’s a very complicated subject.
“I had hoped, as you know, that we could have gotten to the floor this week, but we’re not quite there.
“But I think we’ve got a really good chance of getting there, it will just take us a little bit longer.”
He said the GOP must pass legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare because Republicans will receive no help from Democrats.
“The status quo is simply unsustainable, ” he said.
“It will be dealt with in one of two ways: Either Republicans will agree and change the status quo, or the markets will continue to collapse and we’ll have to sit down with Sen. Schumer, ” he said, referring to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
“My suspicion is that any negotiation with the Democrats would include none of the reforms that we would like to make, both on the market side and the Medicaid side.
“So, for all of those reasons, we need to come up with a solution, ” McConnell said. “The American people elected us to do that – and we’re working hard to get there.”
