Trump having lunch with senators to talk healthcare

By Olivia Beavers
06/13/17 08:31 AM EDT

President Trump will have lunch Tuesday with 13 Republican senators to discuss the status of the GOP ObamaCare repeal and replace bill, Politico’s Playbook reported.

GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Susan Collins (Maine), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Cory Gardner (Colo.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Mike Lee (Utah), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), John Thune (S.D.), and Pat Toomey (Pa.) are all expected to attend the lunch with the president, the news outlet reports.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is working with lawmakers behind closed doors to amend the legislation that passed in the House, and reportedly aiming to vote on the bill in the upper chamber before the July 4 recess.

While Senate leaders like Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) have pressed their colleagues to pass healthcare by the July deadline, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) have questioned if healthcare can be done by the end of the year.

McConnell said in late May that Republicans did enough votes for the upper chamber’s healthcare legislation at that time.

“I don’t know how we get to 50 [votes] at the moment,” McConnell said at the time, referring to the healthcare bill.

While Republicans have majority power in the Senate with 52 seats, just two GOP defections would likely lead to a deciding, tie-breaking vote by Vice President Pence.

House Republicans passed a bill last month that repeals and replaces key provisions of ObamaCare, which many GOP lawmakers pledged to repeal.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score for the House legislation estimates that 23 million more people in the U.S. would become uninsured by 2026 than if ObamaCare remained in place. The CBO also estimated the bill would reduce the deficit by $119 billion over the course of 10 years.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3...alk-healthcare