Republicans on Capitol Hill are in disarray about how to repeal Obamacare and President-elect Donald Trump’s call on Tuesday to enact a replacement “very quickly” did nothing to clear up the turmoil.

Trump told The New York Times that he wants a repeal to happen within days and “the replace will be very quickly or simultaneously, very shortly thereafter.”


The statement took lawmakers on Capitol Hill by surprise. Many had hoped Trump would weigh in. But while he made his intentions clearer, his comments didn’t exactly offer a roadmap. Some even scoffed at the notion that repeal and replace could technically happen that soon, given the procedural and policy hurdles.

“That would be pretty fast. It’s possible,” said Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch. “I don’t know that it will happen, but it could.”

The compressed timeline flies in the face of what Republicans had planned: a relatively quick vote on a budget, a fairly quick turn to repealing crucial parts of Obamacare and then, by year’s end, passage of a replacement plan.

But groups of GOP lawmakers began raising concerns — about a budget that doesn’t balance, the length of the transition period and the risk of not having a replacement ready for the 20 million people now covered under the Affordable Care Act.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell closed ranks responding to lawmakers concerns on Tuesday, trying to unify the party behind a general approach. But neither spelled out details.

“We’re going to use every tool at our disposal through legislation, through regulation, to bring replace concurrent along with repeal, to save people from this mess,” Ryan told reporters.

“We're going to be involved with the administration, the House and the Senate in crafting a package that we can all agree on, will provide a smooth transition from the disaster we have now to what comes next," McConnell said.

The repeal part should be the simplest: That can be done on a party-line vote in both the House and Senate, and there’s little Democrats could do to stop it.

Replacement is trickier: Republicans have to agree on a detailed plan, not just a set of market-oriented concepts. And they have to bring at least eight Senate Democrats on board. Failure to move ahead could leave the health system in unsustainable limbo.

The Republicans could take some steps quickly. For instance, they could repeal Obamacare’s restrictions on Health Savings Accounts. That would let them say that they have created incentives for broader use of these tax-favored accounts that people can use to pay for their health care. But that is not a full-scale Obamacare replacement.

Many GOP lawmakers had been hoping for something more specific from Trump — perhaps at his news conference scheduled for Wednesday. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) noted that Trump’s views had prompted House Republicans to quickly reverse their decision to weaken the ethics system.

“This would be one of those things that I would weigh in on strongly if I were him,” Corker said earlier in day.

“It would be very helpful for him to weigh in and say exactly basically what he wants done,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), before Trump’s interview broke. “He’s going to carry a fair amount of weight.”

When Trump did comment — to a newspaper he often maligns, rather than to Congress itself — lawmakers appeared visibly thrown off guard.

“I guess once again we’re back at definitions,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). “What the definition of repeal and replace at the same time is. Do you do that prospectively or do you do that immediately? Obviously the definition of replacement is part of what’s holding us up somewhat.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said he’d be happy to see a bill pass as quickly as Trump wants “but given the fact you have 535 members of Congress, it may take us a while longer.”

Meanwhile, those who want a replacement ironed out before repeal moves forward, are divided about how extensive that replacement should be.

“I don’t care about does it say ‘replace’ right next to ‘repeal,’” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). “But I do care about that we have a pathway to go forward, that we know when we do this that we’re setting the stage for that. And do we have an idea of what that is, that being in this case the replace plan.”

Cassidy, who authored one of numerous replacement proposals, scorned the idea that Republican lawmakers need guidance from Trump.

“We can figure this out,” he said. “We’re co-equals. … He has publicly said that he doesn’t want coverage to lapse. He wants a repeal, but he wants those with pre-existing conditions to have their needs addressed. I get that. That’s where we are.”

Paul Demko contributed to this report.