Running in circles with head chopped off...

GOP changing health bill as Trump leans in hard

The last-ditch effort comes after GOP leaders faced a major setback in their whip effort Tuesday.

By JOSH DAWSEY , JOHN BRESNAHAN and RACHAEL BADE

House Republicans worked late into the night Tuesday on last-minute changes to their Obamacare repeal bill, as President Donald Trump began rallying support to muscle the stalled legislation across the finish line.

Senior Capitol Hill and White House officials said a new amendment being drafted Tuesday night would address concerns from key moderates about how the legislation treats individuals with pre-existing conditions. Earlier in the day, multiple sources said House leadership floated the idea of adding additional money to high-risk pools aimed at subsidizing more expensive premiums for people with such medical conditions.

The changes are expected to circulate Wednesday. It was not clear Tuesday night, however, if the amendment would include new funds, though one White House official indicated it would.

The last-ditch effort comes after GOP leaders faced a major setback in their whip effort Tuesday. Former Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, who has crafted numerous repeal bills, came out against the bill amid worries about pre-existing conditions protections. And key Trump ally Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) similarly announced he would oppose the bill, sending leaders scrambling to stop the bleeding.

The two high-profile defections sent shock waves through the House Tuesday. And insiders realized they could not pass the bill without vital support from influential health care wonks like Upton — or key Trump allies like Long.

GOP leaders can only afford to lose 22 votes and still pass the bill. Already about 20 lawmakers, mostly moderates concerned about the bill's impact on constituents, have said publicly they will vote "no." Even more have said they're undecided and have yet to make up their minds.

Trump is now getting personally involved in trying to pass the bill. The president made at least a dozen phone calls seeking support for the bill Tuesday. And Capitol Hill and administration officials said he will host lawmakers — including Upton and Long — at the White House on Wednesday.

The White House is hoping changes to the bill will win over wary moderates, and they're crossing their fingers that Trump can secure an endorsement from those opponents after his meeting.

Some White House officials want a vote on the bill on Thursday, but bringing the bill to the floor will be up to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Two senior White House officials said they feared members leaving for recess without voting could doom eventual passage, but many in Congress have grown frustrated with the White House's timetables.

Changes to the bill are possible in the next 24 hours, two senior officials said, but the changes "can't be that significant, or we will lose the support from the Freedom Caucus," one of these officials said. It is unclear how the group of three-dozen conservatives who rejected a previous draft of the legislation will ultimately react to the new proposal.

Whether the changes will win over enough moderates for lawmakers to lock in a majority is also unclear. Upton, for example, said on Tuesday that more money for risk pools wouldn't necessarily flip his vote. GOP insiders, however, say Upton has been involved in crafting the new amendments.

Talks of changes to the bill began percolating on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon. GOP leaders had previously said the text was finalized.

“We’re tweaking, floating verbiage and stuff. We’re not changing the bill in a major way. There is some discussion to get everybody together," said Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican and Freedom Caucus member. "Sometime this summer we'll put a bill on the president's desk."

Some GOP insiders are not optimistic that the new changes will finally enable the House to pass their health care alternative. Even if it does, any bill will still need Senate approval. And Senators in that chamber have made it clear that they intend to rewrite the bill completely.