House republicans will have to take a two-week recess empty handed after it emerged from the collapse of Trumpcare 2.0 yet again. Talks on the healthcare bill held last week between the house republicans and members of the Trump administration did not yield the outcome everyone was hoping for. The problem, for now, appears to be a rift between what conservative republicans want and what moderate republicans are looking for in the deal. In addition to this, there also seem to be a different view from moderate republicans and the conservatives on the compromise in question. Said health care bill compromise was brokered by the White House last week. This is a big issue and on Tuesday it was very clear that not everyone in Washington was on the same page.
The failure to agree on a common ground has simply led to a vicious blame game. On Wednesday, CEO of the Heritage Action, Michael Needham, tried to blame the moderate republicans for the failure to reach an agreement in a press conference. This kind of action has been viewed as counterproductive and will not do anything to create the environment needed for better cooperation between the different parties. Needham accused the moderates of having the intention of keeping Obamacare in place as it is. He also went on to confirm that at this particular point there was no momentum at all towards any kind of agreement.
Responding to these allegations, New Jersey Rep. Tom Macarthur and Co. chairman of the Moderate republicans noted that he was not ready to engage in any blame game in DC. He went on saying that his focus was on finding solutions to solve the impasse other than “lame political soundbites.” North Carolina Rep. and deputy chief whip in the house, Patrick McHenry, called for calm urging all members to take the recess as a moment to reflect and think about the healthcare bill in order to find better ways to reach an agreement. McHenry also added that at this point in time, it was hard for members to go back to their constituents without anything tangible in their hands.
There seems to be all kinds of pressure on house republicans. Even though there is no doubt that an agreement is far from the table, it appears as if all reps are keen on getting legislation that conforms to what their constituents expect and what they need as far as healthcare is concerned. Even though the two-week recess is seen as a way of helping expedite a solution, there are those who argue that the recess will only serve to strengthen the stands taken by house reps with regards to the Trumpcare bill. Despite all this, there is no doubt that there is a concentrated effort to attempt and revive the bill after its collapse just two weeks ago. However, until all the obstacles for a consensus are cleared, the new bill will still just be headed for the same fate.
