GOP senator: Trump still learning to work with Congress

Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), one of several Republicans opposed to moving forward with current GOP healthcare plans, said ahead of a closed-door meeting at the White House that it’s been hard for President Trump to learn to work with Congress.

“This president is the first president in our history who has had neither political nor military experience, and thus it has been a challenge to him to learn how to interact with Congress and how to push his agenda forward,” Collins told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon. 

Trump, a former businessman and reality TV star, has never held public office before, a fact that some senators have previously pointed to in arguing that he needs time to adapt to Washington. 

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Collins added that Trump should have kicked off his legislative agenda with infrastructure, which enjoys bipartisan support, rather than “tackling a politically divisive and technically complex issue like healthcare.”

Collins, a moderate GOP senator, is one of several who have either announced opposition to proceeding with the healthcare legislation without changes or is expected to vote “no” on final passage. 

Senate leadership announced Tuesday it would be delaying a procedural vote on the healthcare overhaul until after the July 4 recess amid sinking support in the GOP caucus.

Collins said she was happy to meet with the White House about the legislation, but signaled it would be hard to win over her vote after a Monday Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report found it could leave tens of millions without health insurance.

“[I have] so many fundamental problems with the bill that have been confirmed by the CBO report that it’s difficult for me to see how any tinkering is going to satisfy my fundamental and deep concerns about the impact of the bill,” she said.