Will third time be the charm for Trump’s attempt to pass a Republican healthcare bill? After two consecutive failed attemps to repeal Obamacare at the end of March and again last week, on Monday morning Trump’s two key advisers, first Gary Cohn then Reince Priebus, said they think there are enough votes to pass the revised GOP healthcare proposal.
“Do you have the votes for healthcare?” Cohn was asked on CBS This Morning. “I think we do,” he answered.
“Do you have the votes for health care?” — @CharlieRose
“I think we do.” — WH economic adviser Gary Cohn http://pic.twitter.com/Kh5WLsIbis— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 1, 2017
“This is going to be a great week,” Cohn continued. “We’re going to get healthcare down to the floor of the House. We’re convinced we got the votes and we’re going to keep moving on with our agenda.”
Cited by The Hill, Cohn, who serves as director of the National Economic Council, also touted the administration’s tax plan. “We’re very excited about our tax plan as well,” he said. “We’re going to continue to drive President Trump’s agenda forward.”
Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus echoed Cohn’s optimism telling CBS that he thinks the vote “will happen this week” and added that “we’ll have tax reform by the end of the year.”
Furthermore, Axios reports that House Republicans told Democrats that Wednesday is the likely day for the vote on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
That’s one reason they wanted to announce the budget agreement last night — they wanted to get it out of the way ahead of the health care vote.
Speaker Ryan’s office did not confirm the story, but it also didn’t issue a denial. Another leadership aide says no official call has been made. It’s probably a good idea not to make other plans for Wednesday, just in case.
After pulling legislation from the House floor in March, and failing to secure enough votes at the end of last week when Trump’s first 100 days in office ran out, GOP leaders are now vowing they will not call a vote until they have enough votes for its passage.
On Friday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he did not “have anything scheduled for next week,” regarding the healthcare bill. However, he added that “as soon as possible, we will bring that bill to the floor.”
via http://ift.tt/2pA9OFz Tyler Durden