It seems as if President Trump is disappointed due to the recent events that involve the Freedom Caucus and the defeat of the Republican health care bill. Trump didn’t have the required support from Republicans to replace Obama Care, and he might be seeking support among moderate Democrats.
Furthermore, due to this crisis over the health care legislation, Republican Ted Poe just announced that he is resigning for the conservative House Freedom Caucus. This is the first defection from the group, but maybe it is not the last.
“They have a history of losing members after they’ve gone too far and their position is indefensible to the rest of the conference,” the senior GOP aide said Sunday after Poe announced his departure. “It also probably doesn’t help that the President of the United States publicly rebuked them this morning minutes before two of their leaders hit the Sunday shows.”
A breaking point for the Freedom Caucus
House leaders pulled the GOP health care bill from consideration on Friday, when it became clear that Republicans didn’t have enough votes to pass the legislation. This was due to the unified opposition from the Freedom Caucus.
Since that, the Republican party announced that they would move on from its efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act at the moment– which they have promised to do over the last seven years – and they said that the House Freedom Caucus is to blame for this defeat.
In reality, the members of the Freedom Caucus were not the only Republicans who opposed to the new health care bill. Other moderate Republicans including Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania and powerful House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, had also said ‘no’ to it.
The freedom caucus didn’t reply to the comments. Mark Meadows, the caucus’ chairman, said that he was trying to convince the other members to vote for the Republican plan, but it didn’t work.
Freedom caucus don’t want any deal
President Trump offered the Freedom House to repeal essential health benefits such as coverage for maternity care and mental care. However, the Freedom House said that it wasn’t enough to drive down premiums. As well, it continues to push to repeal important pieces of Obamacare such as the coverage for people with preexisting conditions, which Trump says that he wants to keep.
Apparently, this caused a huge surprise and disappointment to Trump since he saw that the conservative branch of the Republicans alongside other members of the party, were not in line with his plans. Apparently, The White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, scolded Republicans because their actions showed that a lot of people Trump was trusting, were not loyal to him.
On Sunday, Rep. Ted Poe announced he would leave the conservative group because he was not supporting the Republican health care bill. He said he would continue to advocate for the people in Texas.
“In order to deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward,” the Texas Republican said in a statement. “Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead.”
This could just be the start of more desertions. According to an official from the Congress, the whole thing is not about the policy, but because the Freedom Caucus won’t accept any deal. Apparently, there is an internal fight in the Caucus. They are trying to send a message, and the message is that they don’t want Speaker Ryan to have too much power.
On Saturday, Trump urged people via twitter to watch Judge Jeanine Pirro’s program on Fox that night. During the show, she called for House Speaker Paul Ryan to resign, saying he is to blame for the defeat of the bill in the chamber. Priebus said it was a coincidence, but a lot of people doubt it.
Trump is seeking support among moderate Democrats
Due to the fact that the president doesn’t have enough support from the members of his own party, it appears as The White House is not closing doors to the possibility of negotiating the support of a group of Democrats.
“It’s time for the party to start governing,” Priebus said. “I think it’s time for our folks to come together, and I also think it’s time to potentially get a few moderate Democrats on board as well.”
Priebus said that Trump doesn’t want to leave anybody behind in this health care plan and that Trump is not closed to any option. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said that Democrats are ready to work with Trump in order to find a better plan that replaces Obama care.
However, he said they’ll do it only if Trump is willing to drop attempts to repeal the law and not undermine it. Otherwise, Trump will lose again.
Source: CNN