Trump calls Schumer for help on reviving health care push

President Trump called Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday to ask for help on reviving health-care legislation.

Trump wanted “to see if the Dems want to do a great HealthCare Bill,” he said in a tweet confirming the call Saturday morning.

I called Chuck Schumer yesterday to see if the Dems want to do a great HealthCare Bill. ObamaCare is badly broken, big premiums. Who knows!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2017

Trump was looking for “a path forward on health care,” a GOP source told Axios, which first reported news of the call. 

“The president wanted to make another run at repeal and replace and I told the president that’s off the table,” Schumer said in a statement on Saturday.

“If he wants to work together to improve the existing health care system, we Democrats are open to his suggestions. A good place to start might be the Alexander-Murray negotiations that would stabilize the system and lower costs,” Schumer added.

A Democratic aide told The Hill in an email Saturday, “Particularly after the birth control decision yesterday, the administration has to stop sabotaging the law before anything real can happen.”

Trump, who has known Schumer for years, has previously reached out to the fellow New Yorker and Democratic leader on issues.

Trump sided with Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over GOP leaders in early September on a short-term bill to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling for three months while providing hurricane and disaster recovery aid to Texas.

Trump’s call with Schumer comes as Republicans look to score their first major legislative victory this year after maintaining unified control of government.

GOP efforts to fulfill a seven-year campaign promise of repealing and replacing ObamaCare collapsed twice in the Senate this year, forcing Republicans to turn their attention to tax reform.

– Updated Oct. 7 at 10:09 a.m.