Trump is losing faith the Senate GOP can pass healthcare

pulse

June 30, 2017 11:56 AM

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

President Donald Trump meets with immigration crime victims at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 28, 2017.

President Donald Trump appears to be losing faith that the Republican-controlled Senate can pass a healthcare bill.

"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 tweeted Friday morning.

It was not the first time the president had suggested that the Republicans' latest bid to overhaul the US healthcare system may not succeed.

Trump met with Republican senators on Tuesday, just hours after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delayed a vote on the party's healthcare bill, saying that if it didn't pass, he would "understand."

"This will be great if we get it done," Trump said. "And if we don't get it done, it's just going to be something that we're not going to like. And that's OK, and I understand that very well."

The GOP Senate conference is at an impasse on the bill, named the Better Care Reconciliation Act.

Moderate senators believe the bill goes too far with its funding cuts to major programs like Medicaid. Conservative senators, on the other hand, believe that the bill does not cut enough funding or peel back enough of the Affordable Care Act's regulations.

The two sides held meetings over the past two days to resolve the differences, but no agreement has been reached.

McConnell wanted to get a deal done by Friday so the new version of the bill could be scored by the Congressional Budget Office over the weeklong July 4 recess and voted on when Congress reconvenes.

According to reports, however, Senate Republicans sent the CBO a few broad brush strokes to evaluate but did not come to an agreement on a finalized bill.

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