WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on health care legislation (all times EDT):
6:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump is raising the idea of lining his proposed southern border wall with solar panels.
That’s according to a GOP aide with knowledge of a meeting Tuesday where Trump discussed the idea. The meeting with GOP congressional leaders focused on health care, tax reform and other agenda items, but Trump also used the opportunity to muse about putting solar panels on the wall he hopes to build between the U.S. and Mexico.
The GOP aide spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.
The new border wall itself remains unbuilt, with Senate Democrats opposed to funding it, so the prospect that it will ever be lined with solar panels may be farfetched.
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3:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he is sure the Senate will get a health care bill “across the finish line” this summer.
Speaking at the White House Tuesday to Republican House and Senate leaders, Trump is lauding the “very, very long and difficult negotiation” to get his health care bill through the House.
The bill passed on its second attempt in the House.
He says it would be a good “concept” for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to follow, adding, “Now the Senate will I’m sure will follow suit and get a bill across the finish line this summer.”
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3:45 p.m.
Senate Republicans say they’re nearing consensus on health care legislation as they head toward a make-or-break vote by the Fourth of July.
They narrowed down legislative options at a meeting Tuesday attended by Vice President Mike Pence.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters afterward that “We’re getting close to having a proposal to whip and to take to the floor. It’s been seven years to talk about health care.”
McConnell and other congressional GOP leaders later met with President Donald Trump at the White House. Trump praised the House for passing its own health care bill and encouraged the Senate to “follow suit and get a bill across the finish line this summer.”
However, it’s still not clear that the emerging Senate bill will have enough votes to pass.
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