Sen. Rand Paul praised House conservatives for blocking the Obamacare repeal bill Thursday, but said the White House could easily break the impasse if it would agree to send Vice President Mike Pence up to preside over the eventual Senate debate.

Mr. Paul said that would give Republicans a chance to head off the parliamentarian and reinterpret the budget process rules that have tied GOP leaders’ hands in what kind of bill they’re able to bring to the floor while avoiding a Democratic filibuster.

“That alone I think would break the logjam and get things going,” Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, told reporters.

Having the presiding officer reject the parliamentarian’s recommendations for interpreting budget rules would be an aggressive maneuver that would break decades of Senate precedent, though it has happened in the past.

Mr. Paul spoke just minutes after House GOP leaders canceled a planned vote on their health bill Thursday. Conservative lawmakers were still holding out, saying the bill didn’t meet their goals, denying leaders the votes to pass the bill.

Both sides said they’re still negotiating in good faith and want to get a deal done, with President Trump overseeing the negotiations.

GOP leaders have said many of the things conservatives want to see are impossible under the rules for “reconciliation,” the complex budget process that allows the Senate to avoid a Democratic filibuster.

Mr. Paul said the solution is to rearrange those rules by having Mr. Pence act as the referee, rather than the nonpartisan parliamentarian.

“Frankly the vice president was elected, so were the senators,” Mr. Paul said, explaining why it made sense to shift the responsibility for decisions about budget rules away from the parliamentarian.

Mr. Paul also said he wants to push for association health plans in the bill, saying those could entice people off government health plans, lowering the cost of the GOP bill.

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