Within a day of telling Republicans to simply ‘let Obamacare fail’, president says they should cancel their August break to address healthcare reform

Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump advised Republicans to “let Obamacare fail”, he once again switched course and told senators to cancel their August recess and remain in Washington until they overhaul the healthcare law.

During what appeared to be an uncomfortable prelude to a White House luncheon on Wednesday, Trump warned Republican senators that “inaction” was not an option and said simply repealing the healthcare law without a replacement was not enough.

Trump pivots from Obamacare repeal to ordering Republicans to 'let it fail' Read more

“My message today is very simple. We have to stay here. We shouldn’t leave town until this is complete, until this bill is on my desk,” Trump told Senate Republicans during a lunch at the White House on Wednesday billed as an effort to salvage the healthcare law. “We should hammer this out and get it done.”

But Republican senators have been trying for months to resolve the deep divisions between conservatives and moderates over how to replace the 2010 law, an exercise that has so far only resulted in dead ends. On Wednesday, Trump demanded they try harder in a stark turnaround from Tuesday, when the president advocated a plan that would let Barack Obama’s healthcare law “collapse” on its own.

“For seven years, you promised the American people that you would repeal Obamacare,” he said.

“I’ve been here just six months. I’m ready to act. I have pen in hand. You never had that before,” Trump said, referring to the Republicans’ past attempts to repeal the healthcare law, which Barack Obama vetoed.

Leaving the White House, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, resolved to hold a vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act next week and said he had “every expectation that we’ll be able to get on the bill”. On Tuesday, the Kentucky Republican conceded that his party had failed to reach a consensus on a replacement plan and would instead vote on a repeal bill passed by the Senate in 2015, which Obama vetoed.

That effort appeared doomed to fail after Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, all Republicans, said they would not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement.

Yet senators returned from the meeting at the White House on Wednesday with a renewed optimism that it was possible to rewrite their healthcare bill in a way that could secure 50 votes, after two different repeal efforts floundered amid furious negotiations. An emergency meeting was scheduled for Wednesday night with members of the administration and Republican senators who have outstanding concerns.

“I know it seemed like a little whiplash, but we’re making progress,” John Cornyn, the No 2 Senate Republican.

Cornyn, who has remained stridently optimistic about the prospect of passing a repeal plan, said Republicans were searching for a way to revive their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act.

“I’m more optimistic that that would be the case,” he said when asked about that legislation. “But if there’s no agreement, then we’ll still vote on the motion to proceed but it’ll be to the 2015 just-repeal bill.”

It remains unclear what changes Republicans can make to the legislation that would successfully bridge the gulf between moderates and conservatives by next week.

“We don’t have any delusions about the fact that this is going to be very hard and we still have members who are not there yet,” senator John Thune of South Dakota, told reporters.

The most recent push to pass the healthcare bill foundered on Monday, after two senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas, came out in opposition to the most recent version of the Senate healthcare bill. The announcement, which came as Trump dined with a contingent of Republican senators apparently unaware of the coming defections, left Republicans at least two votes short of what they needed to open debate on the healthcare bill.

On Wednesday, Trump warned wary Republicans that any senator who was opposed to the repeal effort was sending the message: “I’m fine with Obamacare.”

Conservative groups have already begun attacking the Republican senators who said they were opposed to repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement. Dean Heller of Nevada finds himself in the most difficult position as he prepares to defend a seat in the 2018 midterms in a state which Hillary Clinton won in the presidential election.

His Republican governor does not want him to vote for a bill that might rob voters of their health insurance, but conservatives are ready to mount an onslaught of attack ads.

On Wednesday, Trump hinted that there would be consequences for Republicans who stood in the way of healthcare overhaul. The president teased Heller, who was seated to his right, noting: “He wants to remain a senator.”

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