President Donald Trump will host a dinner at the White House on Monday night with Republican senators for a discussion on the health care bill, which has been delayed while Sen. John McCain recovers this week from a surgery.
So far CNN has confirmed that at least seven GOP senators will be at the dinner:
- Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
- James Lankford of Oklahoma
- John Thune of South Dakota
- Roy Blunt of Missouri
- Steve Daines of Montana
- John Cornyn of Texas
- Richard Shelby of Alabama
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said during Monday’s press briefing that the President “is going to continue to meet with senators,” noting he would have some over Monday night.In tweets and in phone calls, the President has been lobbying senators to support the bill. In a speech on Monday, Trump wished Republican Sen. John McCain a speedy recovery from surgery to remove a blood clot, adding, “we need his vote.”Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Saturday night that GOP leaders plan to “defer” consideration of the health care bill, which was expected to take center stage this week, while McCain recovers. Two Republican senators have already come out against the bill, which means all 50 remaining GOP senators must support the legislation for it to pass.According to CNN’s whip list, there are still more than a dozen GOP members undecided on whether they will vote to advance the bill.Cornyn, Thune, and Blunt are members of the elected leadership and expected to vote to take up the bill and then pass it. Alexander is chairman of the health committee and he is expected to do the same.Lankford, Shelby, Alexander and Daines plan to vote to begin debate on the bill but have not decided how to vote on final passage, according to the ongoing CNN whip list.