NEW YORK — President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are personally working the phones to help Senate Republicans succeed in their last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare, the vice president said on Tuesday.
As Pence departed New York on Air Force Two after watching Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly, he met extensively with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has led the GOP push to rally support for the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill and who flew with Pence from New York to Washington. The legislation would convert Medicaid spending into block grants and do away with the exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act.
Pence and other senior administration officials have phoned senators to express their support for Graham-Cassidy, the vice president and Graham told a reporter traveling with them back to Washington for the Senate policy lunch. Pence has even called Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to gauge his position on the healthcare bill.
Graham said Trump had called him late Monday evening to convey his desire to see the Obamacare repeal measure pass. He noted Trump’s tenacity in the healthcare push has given him a newfound appreciation for the president.
The South Carolina Republican also touted his unlikely partnership with Steve Bannon, the ousted White House chief strategist who Graham referred to as “Darth Vader.”
“I have got Alan Greenspan, Jeb Bush and Steve Bannon” behind this bill, Graham said. “If anyone can do better I’d like to meet them.”
The Graham-Cassidy legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where its path to at least 50 Republican votes (with the vice president able to break a tie) is still unclear. The GOP will have until the end of September to pass a bill on a simple majority vote, at which time the window for using a procedural tool known as reconciliation will close and Republicans will have to attract 60 votes to pass any healthcare bill.
