President Trump largely avoided discussing the high-stakes battle over his healthcare bill during remarks to Republican lawmakers and donors Tuesday evening.
During an appearance at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s March fundraising dinner, Trump said the GOP faces a “crucial” vote this week to pass the American Health Care Act and begin to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The president described the 2010 healthcare law as a “disaster,” while noting it had to be repealed before issues like tax reform could be looked at.
But instead of taking time to defend the legislation that House Republicans will vote on later this week, Trump quickly moved on to discuss trade and the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill he hopes to introduce before 2018.
“Now is the time for a new Republican administration working with a Republican Congress to pass the next great infrastructure bill,” the president said.
He continued, “Our party must dream as big and as bold as Lincoln and Eisenhower. We have so much potential. I see it more even now than I did in this great campaign.”
Trump’s remarks came hours after he attended a closed-door House GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill and later huddled with several lawmakers back at the White House. The president had warned conservatives critics of the legislation that they could put the GOP’s congressional majority at risk in 2018 if they fail to move the ball forward on healthcare reform.
“Many of you came in on the pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare,” Trump had said. “I honestly think many of you will lose your seats in 2018 if you don’t get this done.”
The House is expected to vote on the AHCA late Thursday evening. However, sources previously told the Washington Examiner that House Speaker Paul Ryan could delay the vote and provide an additional incentive to guarantee conservative holdouts get on board.
Republicans will need 218 votes to send the legislation to the Senate, meaning Ryan can’t afford to have more than 21 GOP defectors if the Democrats all vote against it.
