“After the collapse of TrumpCare, we must ensure that the Trump Administration does not sabotage the ACA out of spite,” Pelosi said in the letter. | AP Photo Pelosi solicits Democrats for Obamacare tweaks

House Democrats are charging ahead with their own push to tweak Obamacare, after the GOP effort to dismantle the law imploded last week.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sent a letter to her caucus Tuesday, requesting members send their ideas to strengthen the law as soon as possible. Pelosi and ranking members of the committees with health care jurisdiction will discuss the proposals in a meeting Wednesday morning.


“After the collapse of TrumpCare, we must ensure that the Trump Administration does not sabotage the ACA out of spite,” Pelosi wrote. “Then, we can work to improve and update the Affordable Care Act and the health security it provides tens of millions of Americans.”

Pelosi ended the letter by calling last week’s repeal collapse, which stemmed from dwindling Republican support and unified Democratic opposition, a “thrilling success.” Democrats aren't planning to introduce a full-scale alternative or even a comprehensive overhaul but are looking at specific areas within the 2010 health care law to target for improvement.

House Republican leaders, meanwhile, left a nearly two-hour conference meeting Tuesday morning vowing to take another stab at rolling back Democrats’ signature domestic achievement.

“We promised that we would repeal and replace Obamacare, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said after the meeting. “The timeline wasn’t there. The votes were not there yet. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to get there.”

The White House conceded Monday that the collapse of GOP efforts to repeal Obamacare shows they’ll likely need at least some Democratic votes to make changes to the law.

"I think we learned a lot through this process," said White House press secretary Sean Spicer. "I think we’re obviously looking at ways that we can improve not only how we handle health care, but other things — how we do everything."

But at the same time, Spicer refused to rule out future repeal efforts, a nonstarter for Democrats.