Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is joining the group of Republican senators who are willing to give up their August vacation in order to come up with a plan to repeal Obamacare, saying it would be “catastrophic if we fail to deliver on that promise.”
Appearing on the Sean Hannity show on Fox Monday night, the conservative senator said he’s been spending “every waking moment” trying to come up with a plan to unify his party on health care.
“For seven years Republicans have promised the voters, ‘If you elect us, the one thing we said is we will repeal Obamacare. … I am trying to bring together conservatives and moderates and leadership and the administration, get everyone on the same page and say ‘Let’s deliver on the promise when it comes to Obamacare,’” he said. “I think the voters would naturally say ‘To heck with all of you’ if we can’t get our act together and get it done.”
He said he has no plans to take the August recess until the GOP can get something put together.
“It’s crazy that we would be taking a recess. There are a bunch of us, myself included, that have been urging leadership back from January, ‘Let’s not take any recesses. Let’s work weekdays, let’s work weekends, let’s work until we get the job done,’” he said.
The President is in agreement with Cruz’ remarks, as he retweeted a “Fox and Friends” clip of the Hannity interview on Tuesday morning. On Monday President Donald Trump said he “cannot imagine” that lawmakers would “dare to leave Washington” without a health care plan.
I cannot imagine that Congress would dare to leave Washington without a beautiful new HealthCare bill fully approved and ready to go!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2017
Cruz’s comments follow remarks squashing the Senate health bill from prominent party leaders, like Senator John McCain (R-AZ) who said over the weekend that the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare is “probably going to be dead.”
At the end of June, a group of 10 Senators — spearheaded by Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) — asked Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to shorten or cancel the August recess if Republicans don’t make progress on their health care plan.
SEN. CRUZ: It's crazy to go an August recess without having Obamacare repealed. We should work every day until it is done! (via #Hannity) pic.twitter.com/wNQuEU5Oxy
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) July 11, 2017
