"just like i said here that Obamacare WILL NOT BE REPEALED!"
- zzfart #msg-993532

March 21, 2017

Trump to Republicans: Vote for Obamacare repeal or lose your seat
'I'm asking for your vote on Thursday,' the president said.

By KYLE CHENEY, RACHAEL BADE and JOHN BRESNAHAN
Politico.com

President Donald Trump arrived on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning with a stern message for Republicans who've been wobbly about dismantling Obamacare: Give me your vote or you may lose your seat in 2018.

Trump warned Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, who has led conservative opposition to the Republican health care plan, that "I'm gonna come after you" if he keeps it up, according to multiple sources.

The sources cautioned that Trump may have been "half joking," as one put it. Yet the president did single Meadows out in front of his colleagues, asking the North Carolina Republican to stand up as Trump addressed him.

Meadows, who traveled to Trump's Mar-a-lago home over the weekend to talk about the American Health Care Act and what changes he wanted to see in the measure, responded by complimenting the president on his residence.

Trump countered that "I guess it wasn't lovely enough" because Meadows is still a "no" on the bill.

Trump's harsh message was one that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and the House GOP leadership badly wanted delivered to their rank-and file colleagues. Many of them are wary about or outright opposed to the plan, set for a vote in the House on Thursday.

The meeting made abundantly clear that Trump is going all out to pass the Republican health care plan. The House is set to vote Thursday, and it could determine the course of his entire first-term legislative agenda.

The president was accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, both of whom served in the House until recently.

Trump entered the meeting to loud cheers. He started his remarks, then paused and said, "You guys don't mind if I go off script?"

"We have a chance to do something fantastic, to do something amazing," Trump told the lawmakers, according to sources in the room. Trump made the case that voters gave Republicans control of the White House and Congress to do just this.

Trump noted that previous attempts to repeal Obamacare weren't going to pass the Senate or be signed by President Barack Obama.

"I'm asking for your vote on Thursday," Trump said. "Many of you came in on the pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare. I honestly think many of you will lose your seats in 2018 if you don't get this done."

As he left the meeting, Trump cautiously predicted victory in Thursday's big vote.

"We're going to have a real winner," Trump said. "It was a great meeting. They're terrific people. They want a tremendous health care plan. That's what we have, and there are going to be adjustments to it. But I think we'll get the votes.

Several Freedom Caucus members said after the meeting they still weren't convinced they should back the plan.

Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) said he’s still not sold on the GOP health plan, and he said the president’s pitch wouldn’t be the deciding factor for him.

“I think that what’s in the bill will drive the train for myself and I think many of the other Freedom [Caucus] members as well,� Sanford said.

Asked about Trump’s decision to name-check Meadows and pressure him to support the measure, Sanford said “It was, I think, done in good spirit. I think it was received that way as well.�

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) another Freedom Caucus member, said he wasn’t moved by Trump, either.

“When we get it right, I’ll be there,� DesJarlais said of the health care plan. “If he’s going to put his name on this we need it to work.

DesJarlais said the president emphasized there would be continued negotiations with the Senate and when the bill comes back to the House as well.

Asked whether Trump closed the deal, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, “I think he did great."

Failure of the health bill could damage the prospects of overhauling the tax code, reforming immigration policy and reworking financial services regulation, said Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.). "This is, I think, a leading indicator about whether we're going to have a functioning and workable majority," said Huizenga, who added that he expected Trump to reassure lawmakers Tuesday that he fully supports the House bill.

The vote is also a test of the new president’s deal-making prowess in a notoriously factional and conflict-prone Republican conference. He’s already become a central player in helping the House GOP whip team corral support, flipping from ‘no’ to ‘yes’ more than a dozen members of the conservative Republican Study Committee last Friday. But while he’s summoned lawmakers to the White House before, his decision to come to Congress’ turf is a sign of how significant the impending vote is for his fledgling administration.

Rep. Blake Farenthold, who committed to voting for the bill after meeting with Trump last Friday, said hearing from him in person "makes a difference." And he thinks Trump's Hill visit will firm up support.

"Every Republican ran on repealing Obamacare and a vast majority of us got behind Trump for president," he said. "I don't want to go home and say I voted against Trump in repealing Obamacare because that's what I've been trying to do since 2010."

Trump’s Hill visit is just as important for House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders, who are eager to prove they can knit together a governing coalition after eight years without an ally in the White House.

Trump’s hands-on persuasion effort, they hope, will convince the last few moderate and conservative holdouts to come into the fold. In his meeting with RSC members last week, many indicated that they were simply looking for assurance from Trump that he supports the version of the health care bill being pitched by House leaders. Trump told them he was “1000 percent" supportive.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said he's working on "educating members" about changes to the bill and expects a "strong rallying cry" from Trump on Tuesday.

Trump’s trip up Pennsylvania Avenue is the capper to weeks of the administration’s intraparty diplomacy, spearheaded by Vice President Mike Pence, the White House’s legislative affairs team, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Trump’s budget director Mick Mulvaney.

Price and Mulvaney, both former House members, have leaned into their ex-colleagues to try to wrangle enough support for the House’s health care bill, the American Health Care Act. Pence is summoning anti-abortion members of Congress to his Capitol office late Monday. And Trump’s senior aides conferred with top House and Senate conservatives over the weekend at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Even after his meeting with the full Republican conference, Trump plans to put a little extra pressure on House moderates, who are being called to the White House Tuesday afternoon.

Though Trump has signaled support for concessions to conservatives, a growing number of moderate Republicans have also expressed reservations about the bill. Many raised red flags after a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis indicated that 24 million more Americans would go without insurance under the GOP plan over the next decade. The bill is estimated to land particularly hard on Americans between 50 and 64 years old, who could see their premiums skyrocket, according to CBO.

The squeeze from both ends of the House GOP underscores the tricky tightrope for Trump and Ryan. They know they can afford to lose no more than 21 of the House’s 237-member GOP conference for the bill to pass.

"I think there is a team effort here," said House Budget Chair Diane Black, "and [Trump's visit] helps."

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-health-care-obamacare-repeal-236281

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