Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, believes Republican incumbents in Congress will face serious repercussions from voters in 2018 over the GOP’s unfulfilled promise to repeal Obamacare, which was dealt another blow on Friday after the American Health Care Act got pulled from the House floor due to a lack of support from Republicans.
Stivers, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, told the Washington Examiner in an interview prior to the failed vote that if Republicans are unable to repeal and replace Obamacare, they should expect a deflated base of supporters and repercussions at the polls in 2018.
“I think there will be blowback,” Stivers said. “I try never to worry about whether blowback is deserved or not because it doesn’t change the outcome. I think there will be blowback if we don’t pass it and I think we need to try to pass it.”
“I tell our members that ask me that are in tougher seats, ‘do what works for your district,'” Stivers said, adding that he wanted the AHCA to pass and that it would be a “real problem” if it did not.
“It will deflate our base’s enthusiasm if we can’t pass something,” he said. He added that Republicans saw victories at the polls in 2010, 2014, and 2016 largely in part because of opposition to Obamacare.
The bill was pulled from the House floor Friday afternoon by House GOP leadership as it became clear it did not have the votes to pass. A particular problem was members of the House Freedom Caucus, but support also faded among more moderate members.
At a meeting Tuesday with the House GOP conference, Trump singled out Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the Freedom Caucus, and told him that he would target him politically if he didn’t jump on board and support the proposal.
“I’m going to come after you,” Trump reportedly told Meadows. Stivers, who supported the AHCA, said that he does not worry about the possibility of Trump going against an incumbent Republican and backing a primary challenger over the lack of support for the president’s agenda.
“I don’t wake up at night worried about that at all,” Stivers said. “I ran telling our incumbents, ‘if you’re a dues-paying member and you’re in a tough primary, we’ll help you and we’ll be there for you.'”
But Stivers said that wouldn’t be the case for some Freedom Caucus members as many of them have not paid dues.
“Some of those guys, I’d love to have them pay their dues just once,” Stivers said before letting loose a hearty laugh. “And if they’re paying their dues, they’re on my team — our team. This is a dues-paying organization. You opt in by paying your dues. If they’re not, maybe they’re on somebody else’s — I don’t know whose team they’re on.”
