Moderates chafe at Republican healthcare compromise
Source: Politico
Tuesday Group lawmakers are wary of a deal one of its members cut with the Freedom Caucus, casting doubt about whether it can pass the House.
By KYLE CHENEY, RACHAEL BADE and KATIE JENNINGS 04/26/17 05:14 AM EDT
If the White House manages to resuscitate its flat-lining effort to replace Obamacare, President Donald Trump may owe it to a moderate New Jersey Republican and multimillionaire who only reluctantly backed his candidacy for president.
Rep. Tom MacArthur has singlehandedly kept the embers of the failed repeal-and-replace effort burning, huddling with the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus to try to forge a deal. The negotiations have allowed the White House and GOP congressional leaders to insist that despite their embarrassing failure to pass health care legislation last month, they're still making progress.
But the MacArthur-as-Republican health care savior narrative has bothered some GOP moderates, who say the New Jersey lawmaker is flying solo in negotiations with the Freedom Caucus. Though he's one of three co-chairs of the Tuesday Group — a 50-member bloc of House Republican moderates — MacArthur has negotiated without the group's blessing in his quest to keep the health care talks alive, other Tuesday Group members say.
And many others say they’ve seen no details about the compromises the second-term lawmaker is offering or whether he’s getting enough concessions from conservatives. Some in the group “are pretty hot about this thing right now,” said a Tuesday Group member. “MacArthur is kind of on his own.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/26/obamacare-trump-repeal-macarthur-237605
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