WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday morning that “all 48 Democrats” in the Senate are on board with the health care deal negotiated between Senators Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash.
If Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., bring the bill to the floor in both chambers, it would “pass overwhelmingly," Schumer, D-N.Y., claimed during an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”
After numerous attempts at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act failed to pass Congress, the two leaders of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sen. Alexander and Sen. Murray, started creating an outline for legislation that’s aimed at stabilizing the health insurance markets.
“This is a good compromise,” Schumer said. “It took months to work out. It has a majority. It has 60 senators supporting it. We have all 48 Democrats, 12 Republicans. I would urge Senator McConnell to put it on the floor immediately. It will pass, and it will pass by a large number of votes.”
Alexander announced 12 Republican co-sponsors to the bill this week, and McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, told CNN on Sunday that he would allow votes on the legislation if he felt President Trump was behind it.
"I'm not certain yet what the president is looking for here, but I'll be happy to bring a bill to the floor if I know President Trump would sign it," McConnell said.
Schumer was also asked repeatedly on “Meet The Press” whether Democrats are willing to negotiate further on health care, but did not give a straight answer.
“We have an agreement,” he said. “We want to stick by it.”
President Donald Trump sent a series of mixed messages on the deal last week, saying he opposed it as a bailout to insurance companies but also calling it a "good start" in the larger effort to repeal and replace Obamacare.
