The Trump administration will conduct a “full-court press” to promote part one of its legislative Obamacare repeal and replacement effort, an initiative which House Republicans introduced this week, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday.
“I think you will see a lot of travel and a lot of activity by the president and all of the administration,” Spicer told reporters.
Several White House officials, including Spicer and Vice President Mike Pence, have already done radio or television interviews in an effort to spread the word about the bill and court conservative lawmakers who have reservations about the legislation.
“We’re on day two. We’ve been out on talk radio in local markets … [Trump] has already talked to insurance agents and executives. He met with governors, attorneys general, and I think there’s a meeting coming up with lieutenant governors,” Spicer said.
“We’re going to be aggressively talking about the solution” that House Republicans and the White House has offered, Spicer added.
The administration’s passionate defense of the healthcare bill comes amid intense opposition from an array of conservative groups like Club for Growth and Heritage Action.
“If this warmed-over substitute for government-run health care remains unchanged, the Club for Growth will key vote against it,” the group’s president, David McIntosh, said in a statement Tuesday.
McIntosh encouraged Republicans to offer “a full and immediate repeal of Obamacare’s taxes, regulations, and mandates, an end to the Medicaid expansion, and inclusion of free-market solutions like interstate competition.”
But Spicer said the president is “very much in a sell mode” with the bill introduced this week and will let the legislative process determine whether changes to the legislation should be made.
“I think, frankly, we’re just acknowledging the reality of where the process is. We’re proud of the product [and] I think we’ve been very open to listening to others on this,” he said.
