Speaker Paul Ryan on Sunday said he agrees with President Trump that 2018 will be a “bloodbath” for Republicans if Congress does not pass legislation repealing and replacing ObamaCare.
“I do believe that if we don’t keep our word to the people who sent us here, yeah,” Ryan told CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” when asked if he agreed with Trump’s reported comments about the 2018 midterm elections.
Trump said 2018 would be “bloodbath” if AHCA fails. @SpeakerRyan agrees: If we don’t keep our word to the people who sent us here, yeah. pic.twitter.com/bJ943jN8H4
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 12, 2017
According to a CNN report last week, Trump told Republican House members in a meeting that 2018 would be a “bloodbath” if they fail to pass healthcare legislation.
As The Hill reports, Ryan, who used a PowerPoint presentation to defend the House proposals last week, said during the CBS interview that members of Congress are “breaking your word” if they don’t keep campaign promises.
“Look. The most important thing for a person like myself who runs for office and tells the people we’re asking to hire us, ‘This is what I’ll do if I get elected.’ And then if you don’t do that, you’re breaking your word,” he said.
So it appears simple – GOP needs to pass the bill (whether they have seen it or not) to save the party from problems in next year’s elections.
Not so fast!
As Axios reports, Tom Cotton warned House Republicans on Sunday that the House Republican Obamacare replacement bill can’t pass the Senate as written – and that they could lose the House in next year’s elections if they vote for it.
“I’m afraid that if they vote for this bill, they’re going to put the House majority at risk next year,” Cotton said on ABC’s “This Week.”
He warned that it would have “adverse consequences for millions of Americans” and wouldn’t lower costs: “Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote.”
The bottom line then is that on the one hand, there’ll be a bloodbath if they do NOT pass the bill according to Ryan’s Trumpcare plan; but on the other hand, senators like Cotton warn GOP will lose the majority if they DO pass it.
