The White House promised a “robust debate” on President Obama’s policies after Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz announced his 2016 presidential bid Monday by framing it as a repudiation to the Obama blueprint for government.
“There will be a robust debate about the future of the country. There is a lot more the president hopes to get done in his remaining two years in office,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters, declining to wade deeply into 2016 politics.
The White House trumpeted the five-year anniversary of Obamacare Monday just hours after Cruz ripped the healthcare law while announcing his presidential intentions at Liberty University in Virginia.
Cruz on Monday envisioned an Obamacare repeal in 2017, were he to win control of the White House.
“Instead of the joblessness, instead of the millions forced into part-time work, instead of the millions who’ve lost their health insurance, lost their doctors, have faced skyrocketing health insurance premiums, imagine in 2017 a new president signing legislation repealing every word of Obamacare,” Cruz said on the college campus. “Imagine healthcare reform that keeps government out of the way between you and your doctor and that makes health insurance personal and portable and affordable.”
Cruz Monday became the first of the major presidential candidates to officially declare his 2016 White House bid, hoping to mobilize supporters before his conservative rivals enter the race.
