Trump Is Running Away From His Own Health Care Bill As White House Says He May Not Sign It

Donald Trump’s Budget Director Mick Mulvaney left the door open to Trump not signing a Republican-passed health care bill, as the president may try to save his own skin by dodging his own Trumpcare legislation.
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Transcript via CBS’s Face The Nation:

JOHN DICKERSON: The president has said he will not sign or support anything that doesn’t help his voters. And here’s an assessment from Avik Roy in Forbes. He is no fan of Obamacare. But he writes this. “Millions of low-income Americans in their 50’s and 60’s will be priced out of the insurance market while millions of upper-income Americans who don’t need the help will get a big tax credit.” Many of the people adversely affected by the A.H.C.A., the bill that passed the house, “are Trump voters whose favorite candidate campaigned on insurance for everybody.” So Avik Roy and a lot of others have said older voters will see their premiums go up. Working class people will face costs that will cause them to not have insurance coverage. That seems to be a direct blow to a promise the president made.

MICK MULVANEY: Yeah, and I’m not familiar with that gentleman’s report. Not familiar what version of the bill he looked at. I know, for example, as we went through the process more money was set aside to help folks who might be in that 50 to 65 bracket. But face it. We’re all sort of guessing right now because the negotiation is ongoing. The bill that passed out of the House is most likely not going to be the bill that is put in front of the president. The Senate will have their chance to change the bill, improve the bill. The negotiations will continue again. So I think it’s important we reserve judgment on what the president will or won’t sign until we know what’s in front of him.

The White House pushed House Republicans to pass a health care bill that could cost them their majority in 2018. and now they are saying that Trump may not sign the bill if he doesn’t like it. Republicans just walked the plank for Trump and his administration’s response is the equivilent of ‘see ya’ suckers.’

It is amazing that an administration would offer so little support to a congressional majority that just stuck their necks out for him.

Moderate Republican Senators will read Mulvaney’s comments and think twice about voting yes for any health care bill that they don’t feel comfortable with.

If the poltiical waters remain choppy on health care, Trump’s first move is going to be to save himself and throw Republicans in Congress overboard.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association