Freedom Caucus member: Passing healthcare bill would cost GOP majority

A member of the conservative Freedom Caucus took to the House floor on Thursday to warn that passing the GOP leadership’s healthcare plan would result in the party losing its majority.

Rep. Louie Gohmert’s (R-Texas) speech came after President Trump took to Twitter earlier in the day to attack members of the Freedom Caucus, saying Republicans “must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!”

Gohmert said the GOP bill scuttled last week that was aimed at repealing and replacing ObamaCare wouldn’t have really kept the party’s seven-year promise for a better healthcare alternative.

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“So, I’m sorry. This bill is going to ultimately result in Republicans losing the majority,” Gohmert said.

“If we pass a bill that doesn’t bring down premiums and give the American people hope, and not give more power to the government, hope they do a better job in this administration, then we will deserve to be voted out,” he said.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the legislation dubbed the American Health Care Act would have resulted in 24 million more uninsured people over the next decade.

Gohmert expressed disappointment that GOP leaders appeared to “go to war” with conservatives who held a hard line against the bill. 

The combination of conservatives who didn’t think the proposal went far enough to repeal ObamaCare and centrists wary of people losing coverage ultimately tanked the bill, with no signs of progress since a vote was canceled last Friday.

Gohmert warned he’s “hearing from friends across the aisle” that Democrats would prioritize trying to impeach Trump if they won the House in the 2018 midterm elections.

If anything, he argued, conservatives in the Freedom Caucus have been more loyal to Trump than the GOP leaders who distanced themselves from Trump a month before Election Day.

Republican leaders distanced themselves from Trump after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape that showed the now-president bragging about using his celebrity to get away with grabbing women.

“It’s really been amazing to see the war develop the last day and a half [against] those in October who stood with the president when our leaders were saying, ‘Forget Trump. Our numbers are clear. He has no chance of winning. So our best hope is to every Republican member, save yourself win your election so that when Hillary Clinton is president next January we can in the House rein her in,’” Gohmert said.

“But I am so grateful the rank and file of our party stood fast and said, ‘No, if Trump doesn’t win, we’re not going to rein in President Hillary Clinton.’” 

Trump continued his Twitter attack on Freedom Caucus members on Thursday afternoon, calling out three vocal members and accusing them of torpedoing the Republican healthcare plan and holding up tax reform.