White House press secretary Sean Spicer pushed back on claims the White House wants a vote on an Obamacare repeal this week, a day after top-ranking officials said they wanted to try for it this week.
“Whenever the speaker [Paul Ryan] and leadership tell us they feel confident they have the votes, then we would encourage them to move forward,” Spicer said during his daily briefing Monday.
Spicer’s comments come after chief of staff Reince Priebus and budget director Mick Mulvaney hinted on Sunday that a vote on legislation to replace Obamacare could still happen this week.
“I would like to have a vote this week,” Priebus said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Mulvaney echoed a similar sentiment during an interview on Fox News on Sunday, saying that he doesn’t know why the House can’t vote on both an Obamacare repeal and a spending bill the same week. The federal government runs out of money on midnight Friday without new legislation.
The White House last week had been angling for an Obamacare repeal vote in anticipation of President Trump’s 100th day in office.
A source in GOP leadership doubted that a healthcare vote would happen, noting that legislative text isn’t available on a potential deal to let states opt out of certain Obamacare insurance regulations.
Congress also has its hands full this week as it has to reach a deal to fund the government.
But Spicer was less confident of a vote this week.
“I think the vote is going to get scheduled when Speaker Ryan is confident,” Spicer said.
He did say that Republicans in the House are closer to getting the votes needed for passage.
“We are getting close,” he said.
When asked again later about a healthcare vote this week, he said the White House was not committed to a specific timeframe.
“The goal is to get it done and get it done right.”
