President Trump will continue fielding suggestions on healthcare reform but won’t create a deal that compromises what he and dozens of Republican lawmakers campaigned on just to get a bill passed, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday.
“The idea that the president has put out there is that if people want to float ideas and suggestions as to how we can get to a consensus, he’ll entertain them,” Spicer told reporters.
But Spicer warned that the White House is “not going to create a deal for the sake of creating a deal.”
“It’s an ongoing discussion,” he said.
Trump has spoken to House Speaker Paul Ryan and several Republican lawmakers about healthcare since House GOP leadership pulled their healthcare bill last Friday. He has simultaneously encouraged Democrats to approach him with ideas and suggestions they may have.
Ryan told reporters on Tuesday that centrist Republicans and the conservative House Freedom Caucus will continue working toward a consensus bill that repeals and replaces Obamacare.
“We are going to continue getting at this thing,” Ryan told reporters.
Spicer said the White House has seen a “renewed willingness” from members of the House to work toward replacement legislation as they face increased pressure to tackle healthcare reform from residents in their districts.
Spicer said any effort to revive the Obamacare replacement legislation would pivot off the bill that the House decided not to put to a vote, as opposed to writing new legislation from scratch.
“I think we’re starting with where we are … I think that is the current vessel.”
