President Trump to Senate GOP: Repeal Obamacare now

WASHINGTON — President Trump suggested Friday that Senate Republicans may not be able to push through their health care plan meant to repeal and replace Obamacare and suggested a conservative-endorsed alternative instead.

The president tweeted, "If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!"

If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017

It's the second time this week that Trump seemed to recognize how difficult it may be to get this bill through the Senate. On Monday, he said on Twitter, "Republican Senators are working very hard to get there, with no help from the Democrats. Not easy! Perhaps just let OCare crash & burn!"

A day later, as Republican opposition to the legislation grew, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky announced that he would postpone a vote on the legislation until after the July Fourth recess.

McConnell needs at minimum 50 of the 52 Republicans in the Senate to vote for the bill. Currently, there are at least eight senators outright opposed to the legislation and a handful of others who have expressed concern.

Still, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the tweet did not represent a change in Trump’s position.

“We're still fully committed to pushing through with the Senate at this point, but we’re looking at every possible option for repealing and replacing Obamacare,” she said.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. — a frequent Trump critic and someone who has stayed relatively quiet on the health care debate so far — said Friday on Fox News that he agreed with the president on repealing now and replacing later.

"If we don't get this resolved by the Monday of the 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," Sasse said.

Sasse said the Senate should repeal the health care law and then Trump should require senators to stick around during their August recess to craft a replacement. He also recommended that the repeal be delayed for a year, so lawmakers would have time to craft and put a repeal in place.

Sasse pointed out that Republican lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in the past to repeal Obamacare without a replacement. However, those votes were largely symbolic because President Obama made clear he'd always veto any attempts to undo his signature health care law.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, one of the Republican senators who has said he cannot vote for the proposed legislation as it stands, agreed with the president's Friday tweet, saying that Obamacare should be repealed immediately.

"I have spoken to @realDonaldTrump & Senate leadership about this and agree," he said on Twitter. "Let's keep our word to repeal then work on replacing right away."

I have spoken to @realDonaldTrump & Senate leadership about this and agree. Let's keep our word to repeal then work on replacing right away. — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 30, 2017

But that message stands in contrast to a January conversation that Paul touted, during which the then-president-elect agreed with him on repealing and replacing the same day. It was not immediately clear if the plan was to do so in two separate but simultaneous bills or one.

I just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and he fully supports my plan to replace Obamacare the same day we repeal it. The time to act is now. — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 7, 2017

Conservative interest groups expressed hope in a call with reporters Friday morning about the chances of a full repeal taking place first.

"It’s good to see the president joining us in terms of the full repeal effort," said Ken Cuccinelli, president of the Senate Conservatives Fund PAC and former attorney general of Virginia. Cuccinelli has been a strong opponent of Obamacare and has sued over the health care law.

"It's distressing to see so many Republicans who have lied about their commitment to repeal," he said.

A senior GOP aide told USA TODAY that there are no plans underway to send a separate repeal bill to the Congressional Budget Office for analysis. The aide pointed out that the original plan had always been to repeal and replace separately, but Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said that it was important to do the two simultaneously. That led to lawmakers changing course and focusing on a single bill.

David Bozell, president of the conservative advocacy group ForAmerica, dismissed information coming from leadership aides in the Senate.

"President and Sen. Sasse kind of have their finger on the pulse a lot more than Senate leadership and their staff do," he told reporters.

Nathan Nascimento, vice president of policy of the Koch funding arm Freedom Partners, said the two-step approach "would put Congress and the administration in the position to keep their promise" on health care.

Trump's health care tweet — along with another about crime and killings in Chicago — came as the hosts of Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, addressed his Thursday Twitter attacks.

Contributing: Gregory Korte

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