McConnell to Trump: health care to you

Mitch McConnell has no intention of leading President Donald Trump's campaign to turn the GOP into a "health care party."

"I'm looking forward to seeing what the President is proposing and what he can find with the speaker," McConnell said during a brief interview Thursday, adding, "I'm focusing on the # 39, stop the program "Medicare for none" of the Democrats. "

History continues below

The majority leader in the Senate spent weeks and months unheard of in the government's government quagmire for health care, when the GOP controlled both the House and the Senate and still had not repealed Obamacare. The episode caused endless headaches for Republicans when their replacement plan collapsed first, followed by the so-called "skinny plan" that they slapped together at the last minute.

Now that the government is divided, the majority in the Senate is up for grabs next year, and McConnell is standing for re-election, the health care debate is another divisive issue about health care. But that's exactly where Trump is taking the Republicans after his government passed a complete ban on the law in court earlier this week.

So, the Kentucky Republican and his members are asking the president to determine the next steps.

McConnell's apparent reluctance to draft a radical bill on health care in the Senate reflects his political instinct: it's best to focus on perceived democratic weaknesses – the leftist push on "Medicare for All" – that struggling to unify his own party certainly provide for Senate Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to push expectations.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) Said he was eager to move forward a new health care debate, but he did not find the same enthusiasm in the executive suites: "I do not feel much. "

While the GOP leader approved efforts to protect pre-existing conditions, McConnell told his caucus Wednesday that he was sticking to the message of asking for a plan from the administration and the government. to make democratic measures unpopular, according to the participants.

Shortly after, the Senate Republicans of all the caucus adopted a similar mantra: see what the White House proposes.

"The leader is somehow impatient to see what the president and his team have put forward in terms of proposal," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), First Deputy Chairman McConnell. "The good news for us is the Democratic alternative, the so-called Medicare for All plan, run by the government, is very, very unpopular."

Marc Short, a senior associate of Vice President Mike Pence, said Wednesday on television that the White House would present a plan to Congress. But Republicans acknowledge that there is virtually no chance that Democrats in the House will want to deal with it.

Trump is undefeated.

"The Republican Party will become the party of great health care!" Tweeted Trump Thursday afternoon. "Advance in the courts and on the legislative side!"

In private, the Republicans were baffled all week about the latest tango with Obamacare, but they did their best not to disagree with the President's unwanted pressure.

Asked about the future prospects with a new vision of health care, as asked by the President, Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) Smiled knowingly, but said she did not want to. is shown shy.

"You can not name a smile," he says.

In fact, simply adopting a new bill on health care in the Senate before the 2020 election seems almost impossible. And it may not be necessary, since a lawsuit appears in months.

Neither of the two chambers advance in a budget that would allow Republicans to bypass the Senate obstruction by the "reconciliation" technique that they had used in 2017. And there will not be 60 voice for a comprehensive plan because the Democrats will not cooperate with the GOP's efforts to replace Obamacare.

Even the adoption of a large-scale legislation could be a political responsibility for Republican senators who would be re-elected, who would then be forced to approve or oppose it. Republicans are adopting a wait-and-see attitude to check how serious the president is in his last legislative campaign.

"We were all a bit surprised, [McConnell] included, "said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a close ally of the majority leader. "We know that Ms. Pelosi will be a challenge. But it would be even more problematic if we opposed the White House. That's why we need to coordinate our efforts. "

Nevertheless, Trump's support for a legal action to dismantle all Obamacare and develop a new plan has been welcomed by Republicans who want to promote their own agenda rather than abandon the ideas of Democrats. And in a new Senate with a handful of senators who have not experienced the debacle of 2017, some want to start anew.

"Health care is more aggressive than anyone. … We have to see what President Trump means. It launches a lot of things there, "said rookie Mike Braun (R-Ind.). He added, "We need to do something other than just talk about repealing it."

In the meantime, some committee chairs are starting to work on targeted health care reforms.

Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Chair of the Health, Education, Work and Retirement Committee, Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) Said that all that They would produce on the cutting costs of drugs and medical bills would not look like the effort deployed two years ago. a wholesale replacement of the Affordable Care Act.

But that will probably not be enough for Trump. The Republican question now: what is it?

"The president is entitled to his opinions, so I do not blame him," Cornyn said. "But what they have to do now, is tell us what their plans are."