Despite some efforts to pin responsibility for a flailing Obamacare repeal bill on House Speaker Paul Ryan, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer emphasized Friday that President Donald Trump and Ryan had worked closely together on the bill.
Responding to questions from reporters at his daily press briefing, Spicer called the American Health Care Act a “joint effort” between Congress and the President, and mentioned multiple times that Speaker Ryan was updating Trump at the White House.
“I think the Speaker has done everything he can,” Spicer said, when asked if the White House was happy with Ryan’s job performance.
“He’s worked really closely with the President,” Spicer continued. “I think at the end of the day, I said this yesterday, you can’t force people to vote. But I think we’ve given them every single reason to fulfill every pledge that they’ve made, and I think this is the right thing to do.”
Spicer said that the White House had agreed, “in coordination with the House,” to pursue health care as the first major item of Trump’s agenda.
And, asked if Ryan should resign if the bill failed, Spicer referred to Trump’s comments earlier in the day. The President said that Ryan should keep his job, regardless of the bill’s fate.
