WASHINGTON — President Trump’s labeling of a House-passed health care bill as “mean” is aggravating some of the conservatives he pressed to back it, even as Senate attempts to reshape the measure increasingly threaten to spill into July.

“In terms of strategery, I hope he’s just trying to motivate the Senate,” Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., said Wednesday, employing a mangled word used by former President George W. Bush. “Because he put all sorts of pressure on us to move the bill we passed.”

Congressional sources said Trump described the House bill as mean at a closed-door White House lunch Tuesday with 15 Republican senators. It was an extraordinary slap at a bill Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., guided through the House and that Trump himself had championed and praised. At a Rose Garden ceremony minutes after the bill’s 217-213 House passage on May 4, Trump called it “a great plan.”

“To call a bill that he pushed ‘mean’ leaves us scratching our heads,” Brat said.

The president’s criticism also came as Senate Republican leaders’ attempts to write their own health care package have been slowed by disagreements between their party’s conservatives and moderates. Trump said he wants the Senate version to be “more generous,” the sources said.

GOP senators said Wednesday they remained divided over pivotal questions about dismantling and replacing chunks of former President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. These included disagreements over phasing out Medicaid expansion to additional low-income people, easing some of the law’s coverage requirements and reshaping subsidies the statute provides to millions of individuals buying policies.

No. 2 Senate GOP leader, John Cornyn of Texas, called his chamber’s passage of legislation by Congress’ July 4 recess “a good goal” but urged patience.

“I’d say give us a little more time,” Cornyn said. “The end of July by the latest.”


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.