Trump urges GOP to repeal Obama health law now, replace later

President Donald Trump meets with what the White House identifies as "immigration crime victims" to urge passage of House legislation to save American lives, Wednesday, June 28, 2017, in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump meets with what the White House identifies as "immigration crime victims" to urge passage of House legislation to save American lives, Wednesday, June 28, 2017, in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump urged divided congressional Republicans on Friday to break their logjam over dismantling President Barack Obama's health care law by "immediately" repealing it and replacing it later, a formula that GOP leaders dismissed months ago as politically unwise.

Trump's early-morning tweet embraced a sequential approach favored by only a handful of conservatives eager to take quick action on one of the party's foremost priorities — repealing Obamacare, something Republicans have long promised to do.

"If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!" Trump tweeted.

[INTERACTIVE: Compare House, Senate bills with Affordable Care Act]

Supporters of that idea include Sens. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and Rand Paul, R-Ky.

Such a step-by-step approach would leave Republicans vulnerable to Democratic accusations that they were simply tossing people off coverage without helping them obtain medical care. And the idea would leave unresolved the quandary stumping lawmakers today — how to replace Obama's system of online insurance markets, tax subsidies and an expanded Medicaid with something that will get enough Republican votes to pass Congress.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined to comment on Trump's tweet.

On Thursday, Senate Republicans were considering breaking a stalemate over what their replacement bill should do by preserving a tax boost Obama's law imposed on high earners. Keeping that tax increase in place was a bid to woo party moderates and rescue their sputtering push to repeal his health care overhaul.

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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