Story highlights Senate Majority Leader said he wants to address issues that can get Democratic support

His comments break with those of House Speaker Paul Ryan

(CNN) The Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell broke with fellow Republicans twice Thursday when he said he didn't expect Senate Republicans to address entitlement reform in 2018 or take another swing at repealing or replacing the Affordable Care Act.

The Kentucky Republican said at an event Thursday he "would not expect to see" the Senate tackle entitlement reform next year, signaling a break from his counterpart in the House on the Republican agenda in 2018.

"I think that Democrats will not be interested in entitlement reform," McConnell said at the event. "So I would not expect to see that on the agenda."

Instead, he said Congress needs to move on to issues that will get some Democratic support, like infrastructure. "To do something in that area, we're going to have to have Democratic participation," he added.

McConnell was more direct in an interview also on Thursday with NPR , where he downplayed reforming entitlements and said that repealing or replacing Obamacare would be difficult given Senate rules that meant such a move would require 60 votes.

Read More