Trump meets with Republican leader amid fears party will be 'dead' if it fails to pass tax reform
Republicans are now prioritising a tax code rewrite after multiple attempts to overhaul Obamacare failed
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has had lunch with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell amid fears that Republicans will be “dead” if they fail to pass a tax reform plan.
Mr Trump needs the help of Mr McConnell to secure any major legislative victory by the end of the year.
While he claims he’s “ahead of schedule” in terms of accomplishments, Mr Trump’s first 250 days in office have mainly involved undermining Obama-era accords and regulations rather than getting any of his campaign promises approved by Congress.
Tensions between Mr McConnell and Mr Trump have run high in recent months following the Senate’s failure to pass a bill that would have repealed and replaced Obamacare – which Mr Trump had promised to do during his first 100 days as President.
“We have the same agenda, we’ve been friends and acquaintances for a long time,” Mr Trump said about Mr McConnell following their meeting. “We talk frequently… frequently we talk on the weekends about the issues before us…. We are together, totally, on this agenda to move America forward.”
The lunchtime conversation is believed to have partially focused on tax reform, another one of Mr Trump’s priorities. Vice President Mike Pence also attended the lunch.
This week, the Senate will vote on a budget bill, which will enable Republicans to pass a tax measure without any support from Democrats.
But with members of the party already appearing to be divided on key issues regarding tax reform, there is uncertainty over whether the party will succeed in passing legislation by the end of the year.
Conservatives have long railed against the US’s large debt, which is currently about $20 trillion. And some have suggested they won’t vote ‘yes’ on a tax bill if the proposed tax cuts lead to an increase in the nation’s budget deficit.
On Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham told CBS that if Republicans fail to pass tax legislation, “we’re dead”, predicting big losses for Republicans in the House of Representatives and primaries in the Senate.
“It will be the end of Mitch McConnell as we know it,” Mr Graham said.
Mr McConnell is already under attack by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who has declared war on the Republican establishment.
“Yeah, Mitch, the donors are not happy. They've all left you. We've cut your oxygen off,” Mr Bannon said during a speech at the Value Voters Summit, a gathering of conservative evangelicals in Washington.
Mr Bannon, in an interview on Fox News, said he’s putting together a group to challenge every incumbent Republican, except for Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump said he could understand where Mr Bannon was coming from.
“And I can understand… where a lot of people are coming from. Because, I’m not happy about it, and a lot of people aren’t happy about it,” he said, referring to the Republicans' lack of significant legislative accomplishments this year.
“We need tax cuts. We need healthcare,” the President added.
Last week, after being stymied in Congress on healthcare reform, Mr Trump made two different moves to undermine the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, without legislative action.
He issued an executive order on Thursday to help enable Americans to buy bare-bones health insurance plans and circumvent Obamacare rules. Hours later, he said he would cut off subsidies to health insurance companies for low-income patients.
Mr Trump said on Monday that Republicans are now meeting with Democrats to work on healthcare legislation because he ended the subsidies.
“Now we’re gonna get the healthcare done,” Mr Trump said. “Obamacare is finished. Its’ dead. Its gone. It’s no longer — you shouldn’t even mention it.”
Obamacare extended insurance coverage to 20m Americans, while Mr Trump’s orders could further destabilise health insurance markets and cause premiums to soar.
Senators this week are expected to unveil a bipartisan deal to stabilise the Obamacare markets.
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