President Trump is huddling with Republican senators at the White House Wednesday to hash out the next steps on repealing Obamacare after a bill fell apart this week.
Mr. Trump said Wednesday that he wants the GOP to go on the offensive.
“They MUST keep their promise to America!” the president tweeted. “The Republicans never discuss how good their healthcare bill is, & it will get even better at lunchtime.The Dems scream death as OCare dies!”
The working lunch comes a day after Senate Republicans abandoned their effort to repeal and replace parts of Obamacare, with at least four GOP senators joining all Democrats in opposition to the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said he intends for the Senate to take up a bill next week for repeal only.
Vice President Mike Pence said the administration fully supports a measure that would only repeal Obamacare.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump sticks with call to let Obamacare fail
“Inaction is not an option,” he said.
White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said congressional Democrats “absolutely” are responsible for the health care bill failing Monday night.
“The failure of Obamacare I think rests solely on the shoulders of Democrats,” she said. “They created the program. They pushed it through. They made this legislation happen, and they need to own the failure of it. I think they’ve been the ones that have been completely unwilling to even come to the table to be part of the discussion. Hopefully now that Obamacare continues to completely collapse, maybe they’ll decide that they want a part of this process.”
Mrs. Sanders said Mr. Trump is “frustrated” by the bill’s collapse.
“I think his primary frustration is that there is no progress in terms of over the last 24 hours of moving this further down the road and giving Americans the system that they deserve,” she said. “But I think in large part, most of the frustration lies with the Democrats who created the mess but don’t want to help fix the problem.”
I will be having lunch at the White House today with Republican Senators concerning healthcare. They MUST keep their promise to America!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2017
The Republicans never discuss how good their healthcare bill is, & it will get even better at lunchtime.The Dems scream death as OCare dies!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2017
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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