President Trump claimed Wednesday that Senate Republicans have the 50 votes required to pass an Obamacare repeal bill but cannot do so because a GOP senator who would vote in favor of the legislation is out of town while recovering from an illness.
“We have the votes on Graham-Cassidy, but with the rules of reconciliation, we’re up against a deadline of Friday,” Trump said during a speech on tax reform in Indiana.
“We have a wonderful senator — great, great senator — who is a ‘yes’ vote, but he’s home recovering from a pretty tough situation,” Trump added.
Republicans will lose their ability to pass a healthcare reform bill with a simple majority on Friday when the window to use a procedural tool known as budget reconciliation will close for the year.
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is recuperating from an illness at his home in Mississippi. Trump cited Cochran’s absence as the obstacle to passing the Graham-Cassidy bill, which would overhaul Obamacare, earlier Wednesday without mentioning him by name, sparking a temporary mystery as to which GOP lawmaker the president was referencing.
The basis of Trump’s claim that Republicans would have at least 50 votes to pass Graham-Cassidy if Cochran was in Washington is unclear. At least three Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul, John McCain, and Susan Collins — have announced their intention to vote “no” on the bill, and several others — including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski — have expressed skepticism about the lack of hearings and data surrounding the legislation.
Nonetheless, Trump said Wednesday he had received “all the good signs from Alaska and others.”
“Our healthcare is really going to be something excellent,” Trump said. “Because the reconciliation window is about to close, we have to wait a few months until it reopens before we take a vote.”
“But early next year when reconciliation kicks back in, in any event, long before the November election, we’re going to have a vote,” Trump added. “The time makes it easier.”
