President Trump went after the House Freedom Caucus on Twitter Friday for not supporting the House GOP plan to repeal and replace parts of the Affordable Care Act.
In a series of tweets advocating for the American Health Care Act, Trump singled out the group of about 40 conservative lawmakers for not supporting the party’s plan to reform Obamacare. Trump has met multiple times with the Freedom Caucus to bring all of them on board with the AHCA, but has so far been unsuccessful in getting the whole group on board.
“The irony is that the Freedom Caucus, which is very pro-life and against Planned Parenthood, allows P.P. to continue if they stop this plan!” Trump tweeted.
“After seven horrible years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!” he tweeted earlier.
The Freedom Caucus could have enough votes to kill the bill on the floor of the House Friday. House Republican leadership had scheduled a vote for Thursday, but postponed it after it became clear there weren’t enough GOP votes.
Conservative lawmakers don’t believe the bill goes far enough toward repealing Obamacare, even though they have won some concessions from the White House and GOP leadership.
Still, the leader of the caucus, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and other prominent members remain no votes and it’s estimated there could be more than 30 ‘no’ votes in the House GOP conference. House GOP leadership can afford 21 ‘no’ votes and still pass the bill, or possibly a few more if some Democrats aren’t present for the vote.
