President Donald Trump warned in a tweet that the public is counting on the Senate to do something about healthcare. | Tasos Katopodis/AFP/Getty Images Trump to GOP senators: 'Don't let the American people down'

President Trump tried to rally Republican Senators around ongoing efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, which have been stalled in the Senate so far after several failed votes.

"Come on Republican Senators, you can do it on Healthcare," Trump said in a message posted to Twitter Thursday morning. "After 7 years, this is your chance to shine!"


The president also warned that the public is counting on the Senate to do something about healthcare, ending his Tweet with a warning.

"Don't let the American people down!" Trump tweeted.

What was promised to be a swift repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act has been mired in notable defections from both moderates and hard-line conservatives in the Senate.

On the right, Senators like Rand Paul (R-KY) and even Mike Lee (R-UT) — whose name at one point found itself on an amendment in collaboration with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) — have hindered the bill, arguing that it does not go far enough to dismantle President Obama's signature legislative achievement. Further towards the center, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have been consistent holdouts, seeking to protect the Medicaid expansion from the ACA.

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Trump initially described healthcare policy as easy before conceding that it was more complicated than most people think. More recently, he has lamented the crafting of the Senate bill, using the metaphor of threading a needle to describe how carefully the bill must be tailored in order not to lose too many votes on the right and center.

“Health care is always difficult, because you have to weave a very, very narrow path, like a quarter of an inch wide, right down the middle,” Trump said at a joint press conference in the Rose Garden with the Prime Minister of Lebanon. “And if you go a little bit too far right you lose three people on the left, and if you go a little bit too far left, you lose five people on the right. It is a very, very complex and difficult task."

Currently, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is trying to pass what's known as the "skinny bill," which would leave in place much of the protections in the ACA while allowing insurance companies to sell plans that would cover a bare minimum of maladies. "The skinny bill" comes after a failed 45-55 vote on Wednesday, facing the same problem of alienated members on both the right wing and center of the party.

