President Donald Trump urged Republican U.S. senators on Friday to repeal Obamacare immediately if they cannot agree on a new health care plan to take its place.

His spokeswoman Sarah Sanders insisted during a press briefing just hours later, however, that 'the president hasn't changed his thinking at all' about wanting to see a repeal-and-replace strategy adopted in one piece of legislation.

Republican leaders have set Friday as the goal for working out changes to Senate legislation that would repeal extensive parts of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the law dubbed Obamacare that expanded health insurance coverage to 20 million people.

Their efforts were complicated on Thursday by a Congressional Budget Office report that said the Senate proposal would cut spending on government Medicaid for the poor by 35 percent come 2036.

President Donald Trump told Republicans in Congress that they should consider repealing Obamacare entirely if they can't agree on a replacement plan

Trump agreed with Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, saying it may be time for a 'clean' repeal

"If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!" Trump wrote in an early morning Twitter post.

U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican who has often clashed with Trump, welcomed the suggestion. Sasse said this week he was not satisfied with the Senate healthcare legislation.

"Sounds great, Pres. @realDonaldTrump," Sasse wrote in a response on Twitter. "We are agreed. We need to break the logjam."

Trump promised as a presidential candidate to do away with the Affordable Care Act but crafting a plan acceptable to Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, has proven easier said than done.

Republicans would like to make progress on that issue to clear the way for other priorities such as tax reform.

Sasse recommended Friday on 'Fox & Friends' that Congress should pass a 'clean repeal' bill with a one-year delay built in, so lawmakers would have an incentive to replace Obamacare with something more practical.

Sasse said Congress should repeal Obamacare with a one-year delay built in, so lawmakers would have a incentive to develop a replacement according to a strict timetable

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'I want maximum "repeal," however much repeal we can do under these arcane budget reconciliation rules, and then I want to have a conversation about real "replace,' he said.

'To date, we've been trying to do those two things at once, and not been making enough progress. ... If we don't get this resolved by the Monday of next week, July 10, if there isn't a combined repeal and replace plan, I'm writing a letter to the president this morning urging him to call on us to separate them.'

A year-year delay would serve as 'an action-forcing event so that we get to work,' Sasse said.