Trump urges deadlocked GOP senators to 'immediately repeal' ObamaCare, replace it 'at a later date'

President Trump tries to win over health-care holdouts — (Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Senate Republicans left for their 10-day July 4 recess on Thursday night without a politically viable health-care plan, and it is unclear if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will be able to entice, persuade, or cajole at least 50 Republicans of his 52-member caucus to pass a health-care bill before his new deadline of mid-July, or perhaps early August. On Twitter Friday morning, President Trump jumped in with some advice: "If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!"

This was the original Republican plan, but they abandoned it earlier this year after deciding it was politically untenable. Trump was a significant player in the House GOP push to pass their health-care bill, but Senate Republicans have been mostly keeping him at arm's length, more or less openly saying they do not believe Trump understands even the basics of health-care policy.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.