Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said that congressional leaders' prospects of overturning parts of the 2010 Affordable Care Act and enact their own provisions in its place were dimming. He said the party's best hope for passing a health-care bill now could be to wipe out the law in its entirety, then work on a deal to fill the void.
”On the current path it looks like Republicans will either fail to pass any meaningful bill at all, or will instead pass a bill that looks to prop up many of the crumbling Obama care structures," he said in a letter he announced he was sending to the White House.
”We must keep our word. Therefore, if on July 10 we don't have agreement on a combined repeal and replace plan, we should immediately vote again on H.R. 3762, the December 2015 Obamacare repeal legislation that the Congress passed but President Obama vetoed."
Within minutes of Mr. Sasse's announcement, which he also discussed on ”Fox & Friends," Mr. Trump suggested his support in a tweet.
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!
Rand Paul of Kentucky, another senator whose support could make or break the legislation's prospect, also endorsed the idea.
”I have spoken to @realDonaldTrump & Senate leadership about this and agree. Let's keep our word to repeal then work on replacing right away," he said on Twitter.