White House press secretary Sean Spicer projected confidence that the American Health Care Act would pass on Friday, even as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and President Trump huddled behind close doors to discuss the bill’s dimming prospects.
“I still feel optimistic,” Spicer told reporters at the White House.
“When you look at legislative efforts, I think the president has given it his all,” Spicer said, noting that Trump had spent the past several days calling holdout lawmakers from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
“At some point, you can only do so much,” Spicer said. “At the end of the day… you can’t force someone to vote.”
After a week of negotiations with House members who had doubts about the AHCA, Spicer said the White House and House leadership had decided the bill was as “strong” as it could be without sacrificing additional votes.
“I think the speaker has done everything he can,” Spicer said. “At the end of the day, this isn’t a dictatorship.”
But the White House spokesman declined to concede that the AHCA would fail if put on the House floor for a vote as written.
“Right now we’re still in that active discussion phase of trying to figure out who we can get on board and whether or not we can move forward,” Spicer said.
As talks between members and White House aides wore on Friday, the fate of the bill looked increasingly uncertain. Republicans can only lose 21 of their own if they hope to send the AHCA to the Senate.
