The White House on Monday appeared to tamp down expectations about the latest Senate GOP bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, declining to say whether President Trump is confident it will pass.
“We’re hoping that this moves forward,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said of the so-called Graham-Cassidy bill, which seeks to reduce federal funding for Medicaid and allocate the money in the form of a block grant to each state.
Trump and Vice President Pence had been rallying Senate Republicans to support the Hail Mary legislation last week before a handful of GOP lawmakers announced their opposition or suggested they are still undecided, including John McCain, Ariz.; Lisa Murkowski, Alaska; Ted Cruz, Texas, and Rand Paul, Ky., who was the earliest to come out against the bill.
“[Trump] is continuing to be engaged both directly and through his team on legislative affairs,” Sanders said, noting that “whether or not there is a vote” on the bill, the White House hopes Congress will “do what they were elected to do.”
Sanders’ comments came while a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the legislation was underway. Protesters who later interrupted the hearing shouted “shame” at South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a co-sponsor of the legislation, as he made his way through a hallway to the hearing room.
Senate Republican leaders released an updated version of the bill late Sunday night that included increased funding for a trio of states whose GOP senators remain skeptical of the legislation.
Trump blasted GOP lawmakers earlier Monday, saying voters have the right to think “it’s disgusting” that Republicans have struggled to repeal Obamacare despite their congressional majority.
“Looks like Susan Collins and some others will vote against it,” the president said during a radio interview. “So we’re going to lose two or three votes, and that’s the end of that.”
