Trump Calls Out Freedom Caucus In Tweet Ahead Of Uncertain Repeal Vote

President Donald Trump announces he will nominate Alexander Acosta for Labor Secretary, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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As Republicans geared up for a vote on their bill to repeal and replace Obamacare on Friday morning, despite uncertainty that leaders had gained enough support to pass the bill, President Donald Trump tried to push the conservative Freedom Caucus to back the legislation.

Trump used his favorite communication tool, Twitter, to single out the Freedom Caucus for its members’ opposition to the House bill. The President noted that the bill would defund Planned Parenthood and that the caucus would be forgoing an attempt to block funding for the organization, perhaps in the hopes that he could shame the caucus into backing the bill.

It’s not clear that a tweet from Trump would push more members of the caucus to back the bill. They pushed for two major changes to the bill, and only one of those changes, a repeal of Obamacare’s Essential Health Benefits requirement, made it into an amendment.

Despite the uncertainty that there are enough votes in the House to push the bill over the finish line, Trump issued an ultimatum on Thursday night: vote for the bill on Friday or Obamacare remains.

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