Trump ‘disappointed’ in congressional GOP
President Trump says he is “disappointed” in the Republican-controlled Congress for how it has handled his major legislative priorities, including a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
“I’m disappointed,” Trump told Fox News in response to a question about whether he was disappointed with how Republicans had handled big issues such as healthcare.
After host Martha MacCallum noted the possibility of a Friday vote on ObamaCare repeal had been raised before GOP leaders decided against it, Trump said: “I’m disappointed that it didn’t go a lot quicker.”
{mosads}”I like them a lot,” he said of congressional Republicans.
“I have great relationships,” he added, reminding MacCallum that he didn’t know most of them before this year.
“I’ll tell you Paul Ryan’s trying very, very hard. I think everybody is trying very hard. It is a very tough system.”
The comments came after the White House pushed for a vote on a healthcare measure this week ahead of his 100th day in office.
Ryan was forced to pull the measure, known as the American Health Care Act, from the House floor last month after failing to corral a majority to pass it due to opposition from the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
At the urging of the White House and congressional leaders, lawmakers brokered a new agreement this week that won support from the Freedom Caucus, but it quickly ran into opposition from moderate Republicans.
That means Trump will conclude his first 100 days without a major legislative accomplishment, a notion he disputes.
“You know that’s been wrong, that’s really wrong. First of all, we had 28 bills,” Trump said. “I was with a reporter the other day who said the same thing: You didn’t pass anything. I said no, we passed 28 bills. And, by the way, tomorrow it could be 32.”
Thirteen of those measures roll back Obama-era regulations, but most others are small-scale measures that appoint personnel, name federal facilities or modify existing programs.
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