Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday backed a plan endorsed by President Donald Trump to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare immediately and come up with replacement legislation later.
“If we cannot bring the conference together and agree on repeal legislation, then I think President Trump’s absolutely right that we should pass a clean repeal,” Cruz told reporters following a town hall in Texas, according to the Washington Post.
Last week, Trump backed a plan proposed by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) to pass a bill to completely repeal Obamacare immediately with a deadline to replace the law within a year. Such an approach will likely face opposition from several members of the Republican caucus. Several senators shot down that approach in January, and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) recently warned against the approach backed by Trump.
Despite his willingness to pass a clean Obamacare repeal bill if the Senate fails to come to a deal on a repeal and replace bill, Cruz seemed cautiously optimistic on Thursday that the Senate can reach agreement.
“I believe we can get to yes,” he told reporters, per the Post. “I don’t know if we will.”
