"I think the repeal of the individual mandate takes the heart out of Obamacare," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images McConnell: ‘We’ll probably move on’ from Obamacare repeal in 2018

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said he wants the Senate to move past Obamacare repeal in 2018 in favor of stabilizing insurance markets and to other issues, prompting a backlash from one of the Senate’s most prominent advocates of repeal and an ally of President Trump.

The Kentucky Republican told NPR that the passage of the GOP's tax overhaul, which also repealed the individual mandate, effectively "takes the heart out of Obamacare." He gave a nod to a new attempt at Obamacare repeal – which the Senate tried unsuccessfully several times over the summer.


"Well, we obviously were unable to completely repeal and replace with a 52-48 Senate," McConnell said referring to the partisan split in the chamber. "We'll have to take a look at what that looks like with a 51-49 Senate [once Alabama Democratic Sen.-elect Doug Jones is seated]. But I think we'll probably move on to other issues."

McConnell’s comment drew a sharp rebuke from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is hoping to revive a bill next year repealing Obamacare in favor of block grants to states. He and Sen. Bill Cassidy – who authored the last GOP attempt to repeal the health care law in 2017 – met this week to strategize about how to bring back the effort in the new year.

“I think that’s a huge mistake,” Graham told reporters. “We should do everything we can to replace it, as much as [Democrats] did to pass it. We own it now.”

McConnell wouldn’t be the first GOP leader to try to move his party past Obamacare.

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After former President Barack Obama was reelected in 2012, then-House Speaker John Boehner declared Obamacare the “law of the land.” Current Speaker Paul Ryan made the exact same declaration after the House GOP repeal effort failed in March.

McConnell on Thursday touted the idea of shoring up the health care markets, where premiums are higher in 2018. Despite the price hikes, 8.8 million people signed up for insurance through HealthCare.gov, according to numbers released by the Trump administration. Millions more signed up through state exchanges that have not yet reported final tallies.

"We want to steady the insurance markets if we can,” McConnell said, “and I think we'll probably be addressing that part of health care sometime next year."

Graham, like several other Republicans in the House and Senate, argues that repealing the mandate means the GOP “owns” the health care law and the potential fallout, which experts say will result in higher premiums.

He dismissed the idea of negotiating bipartisan fixes to the law, saying it plainly “won’t work.” The Senate GOP tried to attach small bipartisan repairs to a spending bill this week but the House forced them to drop the effort when it became clear the legislation wouldn’t pass.

Graham is not the only Republican eager to turn back to the health care law.

“I think it is very important we turn to Obamacare and finish the job,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Repealing the mandate was a “critical first step but we’re not done and I intend to continue working to try to bring together 50 Republicans to honor our promise to the voter.”

McConnell, in the interview, also stressed the importance of selling his party's tax overhaul to voters ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll showed voters largely split on the GOP's tax bill, with 42 percent of respondents supporting it and 39 percent opposing it. But other polls painted grimmer sentiment. A CNN poll released Tuesday found that 33 percent of participants supported the bill in December, with 55 percent opposed. The poll also showed that a majority of voters believed the bill would be more beneficial to the wealthy than the middle class.

McConnell cast the negative perception as a product of the press coverage.

"I do think the coverage has been overwhelmingly negative, and it certainly has an impact on it," McConnell said. "You take a family of four making $73,000 a year, will save about $2,000. Now, to lot of people inside the Beltway that doesn't sound like a lot of money, but to that family that's a 58 percent reduction in their tax bill."

He also expressed optimism that the chamber would be able to reach a bipartisan compromise on entitlement reform.

"I think entitlement changes, to be sustained, almost always have to be bipartisan," McConnell said. "The House may have a different agenda. If our Democratic friends in the Senate want to join us to tackle any kind of entitlement reform, I'd be happy to take a look at it."

Adam Cancryn contributed to this report.