Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee called out her fellow Republicans in the Senate Monday, placing the blame for the party’s failure to produce viable health care legislation squarely on lawmakers while defending President Donald Trump’s role in the legislative delay.
“We think the Senate needs to get to work and send the House the bill so we can get this fixed,” Blackburn told host Alisyn Camerota on CNN’s “New Day.” She further admonished the GOP Senators to “get to work” and “show some spine” by voting on legislation so that the House has the opportunity to “fix the problem.”
Blackburn’s comments come after GOP leadership failed to whip the votes required to pass a “skinny” repeal bill, which would have needed 51 votes under House budget rules. Blackburn targeted Republican dissension in the Senate, saying, “the Senate likes to work in gangs, they’ve been the gang of seven or eight, I want the gang of 51.”
Blackburn defended Trump, who has publicly lashed out at Republican lawmakers for their legislative failure, saying he is “trying to solve the problem.”
Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, clarified Trump’s messaging during a Sunday morning interview.
“What he’s saying is, look, if Obamacare is hurting people, and it is, then why shouldn’t it hurt insurance companies and, more importantly perhaps for this discussion, members of Congress?” Mulvaney told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
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