GOP’s Brady says ObamaCare demands were ‘bridge too far’

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said Friday his party’s recent efforts to win the defunding of ObamaCare in negotiations on funding the government “was a bridge too far.”

“I know that no president in modern history has ever repealed a major signature law that was just passed,” Brady said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Friday. “That clearly was a bridge too far.”

{mosads}Conservatives in the House and Senate pushed their leadership to risk a government shutdown over demands to defund, and then to delay ObamaCare.

GOP leaders and establishment figures in the party repeatedly argued the strategy was doomed because, they said, President Obama would not agree to give up his signature legislative accomplishment.

They also warned Republicans would take a hit from the shutdown, and polls have borne that out.

This week, a Gallup poll registered approval of the GOP at 28 percent, the lowest rating it had ever recorded for a political party. Other polls have rated the GOP even lower.

There are now signs that the GOP is abandoning the ObamaCare push entirely as it seeks a deal on a six-week hike to the debt ceiling.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) didn’t mention healthcare in separate op-eds they wrote this week, and the issue wasn’t a major part of a meeting Thursday night between Obama and House Republicans.

Brady said he hoped the six-week debt-ceiling offer would end the stalemate.

“I think this could be a breakthrough,” Brady said. “I think the negotiations are pretty encouraging.”

House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), who attended Thursday’s White House meeting with Obama, said he’s also encouraged.

“I think last night was very positive. We had, I thought, a good meeting, a good discussion,” McKeon said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“I’m hopeful. I’m anxious to hear from our leadership this morning as to the progress we made during the night. I felt good, better than I’ve felt for a few weeks about where we’re heading.”

Asked if anything funny or dramatic happened during the meeting with President Obama, McKeon said he noticed the nameplates at the table were different than normal.

“Normally, they have your name written in fancy writing. I noticed it was handwritten quickly,” he said. “I turned it over, and it had the fancy name of somebody else at a prior meeting.”