While the Russia shadow over the Trump regime gets a lot bigger and a lot darker, the popular vote loser himself is investing his tarnished political capital in getting Trumpcare out of the House this week. But in doing so, he's making it harder to get the bill through the Senate.
During a meeting at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida Saturday, the president’s top advisers told three of the most vocal conservative opponents of the bill — Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) — that they agree with some of their demands in principle, according to several sources familiar with the discussions. But it’s also become increasingly apparent to the White House that the conservatives’ requests, which include phasing out Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion earlier and deregulating the insurance industry, are unlikely to pass the Senate.
Multiple administration and Hill sources close with GOP leadership now expect a couple smaller tweaks to the legislation this week before the vote. But by-and-large they feel talks with the far-right are just about done, and that they can’t give conservatives everything they want. […]
Those changes won over several conservative Republican Study Committee members who were previously “no” votes. But Ryan and his top lieutenants worried that if they kept moving too far right, they’d lose a bunch of centrist Republicans. Some have already started to peel off or threatened to.
Trump is meeting with the Senate maniacs again Monday, but also with a handful of senators who are objecting to the bill as moderates, because it cuts Medicaid too deeply. The changes Trump is agreeing to from the House aren't going to help those Republican senators reconcile themselves to the bill.
There's also the new wrinkle, that great big elephant that just shoved its way into the room: the admission from FBI Director James Comey that the Trump campaign is currently under investigation for potential collusion with Russia during the campaign. That's kind of massive. That's kind of a big problem from Trump, and any Republican who has to look forward to running for re-election in next year with a president whose legitimacy is in serious question.
The extent to which Trump will be able to sway Republicans to stand by him—he'll be speaking to the whole Republican House conference on Tuesday—is eroding by the moment.
Trumpcare is a travesty: It cuts taxes for the rich, kills Medicaid expansion for the poor and defunds Planned Parenthood. We can defeat it in the Senate, if you call the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and contact your senators.