Top Senate Republican warns of possible bipartisanship on health care<\/b>
\nSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ‘s public warning that Republicans might have to reach across the aisle if they can\u2019 t craft a workable health care bill came as an abrupt shift in rhetoric from the past two months, when the Kentucky Republican repeatedly noted that drafting the health care bill was up to the GOP.
\u201cEither Republicans will agree and change the status quo or … we\u2019 ll have to sit down with [Democratic Leader Chuck] Schumer, \u201d he said after leaving a White House meeting with President Trump and most of the Senate Republican conference.
McConnell’s comments could be read as a threat to his conference to fall in line, an acknowledgement of a possible outcome or something else. A spokesman for the majority leader declined to elaborate on this remark, but based on McConnell’s past public statements, it is at the very least a stark deviation from his prior message.
Aides to McConnell pushed back on the notion that McConnell\u2019s publicly mentioning Schumer was new or noticeable, telling ABC News \u201che has said that 100 times\u201d and sending a link to a story published Tuesday citing people familiar with his thinking.
But as of this story\u2019s publication, they had not provided any example of McConnell\u2019s making this point in public.
Here is a look at some of McConnell’s past comments on working with Democrats to pass health care legislation:
May 2 — two days before the House cleared its version of the Republican health care overhaul.
\u201cThe two top priorities of the administration of Senate and the House of Republicans are revisions to health care, repeal and replacing Obamacare and comprehensive tax reform. There is a pathway to achieve both of those without Democratic cooperation.\u201d
May 9
\u201cWe’re in the process of working together to get to at least 50 Republicans, because no Democrats are interested in participating to change the status quo, which is completely unacceptable.\u201d
May 23
\u201c The Democrats are not interested in fixing this problem. They’ve made it — they’ve made it very, very clear — they have no interest whatsoever in fixing the status quo.\u201d
June 13
\u201cUnfortunately, it will have to be a Republicans-only exercise. But we’re working hard to get there.\u201d
June 20
[Democrats] made it clear earlier they were not interested in participating in this. They have no interest in it whatsoever, \u201d he said on th. \u201cWe know they don’t want to participate in what we’re trying to achieve, which is to change Obamacare and make it better.\u201d
June 27
\u201c [Democrats are] not interested in participating in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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