President Donald Trump claims he’s negotiating with Democrats on health care, but not one lawmaker from that side of the aisle was willing to own up to it.
The president said Sunday that’s “had personal talks with some Democrats” about the idea he’s floated to give cash for health care coverage directly to consumers, but Politico contacted two dozen House and Senate offices and no one confirmed they had been in contact with anyone from the White House.
“Lol no,” said one Senate Democratic spokesperson, when asked if Trump had reached out to their office.
Trump played coy about the purported talks, saying “I can’t tell you who they are, I just don’t want to do that,” and the White House did not offer specifics to back up the president’s claims about direct payments for Americans to “buy their own health insurance” instead of relying on Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“The President is committed [to] reducing health costs for everyday Americans, and he and the Administration are aggressively working to deliver. We are not going to detail the President’s private conversations, especially to a rag like Politico,” said White House spokesperson Kush Desai.
White House deputy chief of staff James Blair said Tuesday that Democrats “honestly, have not really demonstrated an interest in having serious conversations” about a bipartisan health care plan to replace ACA, but Democrats told Politico they don’t know of anyone on their side talking to the president about anything.
“I have no idea what Donald Trump is talking about,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said on Monday.
“I certainly haven’t had a conversation with him,” Jeffries added. “I have no visibility into [Senate Majority] Leader [Chuck] Schumer having a conversation with him. I don’t know a single member of the House Democratic caucus who’s had a conversation with Donald Trump.”
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said he’s on a bipartisan group chat with lawmakers, including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), to discuss a plan to address the expiring ACA subsidies, but Democrats say there’s been radio silence from the White House.
“This administration is a black box,” said Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT). “They are not communicating with us — members of Congress that are the ones that create policy.”
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