Republican lawmakers increasingly see President Trump’s involvement as necessary component of any strategy to save the healthcare bill, and GOP lawmakers both for and against the legislation are increasingly curious to see if the self-described master negotiator can pull it off.
The White House has said Trump is in full-blown sell mode on the bill, and has already sat down with Tea Party groups to convince to support the plan working its way through the House. Trump has also held a bowling night at the White House Thursday with conservative lawmakers, including members of the House Freedom Caucus who have become a thorn in the side of those pushing for reform.
And after months of bragging about all the great deals he would deliver if elected president, the healthcare bill gives Trump a chance to demonstrate that skill in his first few months in office.
“It’s critically important,” Sen. John Cornyn told the Washington Examiner about Trump’s involvement. “I’m glad he has enthusiastically endorsed what we’re doing and is going to be providing the signature once we pass the House and the Senate.”
Trump outreach to lawmakers is a real change from President Obama, who had a notoriously shallow relationship with Congress, to the point at which many Democrats said they never met with him.
“I’ve been here for four years and I’ve never negotiated with a president, so I’m looking forward to it even if doesn’t work out to my satisfaction,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the Freedom Caucus who opposes the bill in its current form.
Trump is under some time pressure as Republicans are hoping to get something onto Trump’s desk to sign by early April. Trump has shown he’s willing to put pressure on individual members, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who was on the receiving end of a presidential tweet Tuesday in which Trump said he was “sure” the Kentucky Republican would “come along” and support the bill.
Vice President Pence is also slated to rally in Louisville, Ky. on Saturday where he is expected to push for the proposed reform.
Given the split within the party, many see Trump as the only person who can get the deal across the finish line.
“I think eventually, he’ll need to do that on this issue because you’re going to have a lot of different ideas on the Republican side,” said Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., a top supporter of Trump’s during the campaign. He predicted Republicans would come together and find some answer at the end of the process.
“There will be other ideas, and in the end, I think get everybody at a table and say ‘what do we need to get it done?'” Barletta said. “I think it has to happen because the Affordable Care Act is going to crash. We’re on a plane that’s going to crash — we gotta put our parachutes on sometime.”
Even members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus seem open to trying to work out a deal with Trump. Most of the lawmakers in that group continue to oppose the bill, despite outreach from the White House and their former colleague, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
“We are who we are,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and a leading member of the caucus. “We think, when you look at the document itself … we don’t think it’s going to bring down premiums and we don’t think it’s a clean repeal like we told the voters we were going to do — plain and simple.”
But some say they’re ready to talk it over with Trump, even if they’re not sure now that he’ll be able to deliver.
“It’s the beginning of the negotiation, so let’s negotiate,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the Freedom Caucus, said in an interview. “If nothing changes and there’s nothing that can be explained to change my mind and, most importantly, my constituents’ minds, sometimes you’ve got to walk away from a deal, right? So I don’t want to be in that position, but that could be what it is.”
