'Spaghetti on the wall': GOP senators say Trump's policy proposals 'unlikely to happen'
Former President Donald Trump's proposed policy agenda for a second White House term is being met with shrugs by members of the Senate Republican caucus.
On his Truth Social platform, the 45th president of the United States recently wrote that he wanted to get rid of the Affordable Care Act – also known as Obamacare — despite failing to do so in his first term even with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress.
"I don’t want to terminate Obamacare, I want to REPLACE IT with MUCH BETTER HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote at 12:33 AM on Wednesday. "Obamacare Sucks!!!"
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The Hill spoke to several Republican senators about Trump's proposed policies, including his plans to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, along with his proposed mass deportations of immigrants and calls to halt US support of Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russian incursions into its Eastern borders.
"I'd want to know what the proposal is," Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-South Dakota) said when asked about the proposed Obamacare repeal.
“One of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that I’ve always strongly supported was the requirement that people with preexisting conditions be covered, so I would not be for repealing that provision," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said, although she acknowledged “premiums have been very high under the Affordable Care Act.”
“He throws so much spaghetti on the wall, I don’t think any of it really makes any difference,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said of Trump's ideas. “If Republicans try to defend against all the things he says, that’s all they’d spend their time doing.”
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Romney dismissed Trump’s call to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“I’d love to see his proposal. He served as president for four years, never put a bill forward, never put even an outline of a bill forward,” he said. “If it’s more than an empty promise, put some teeth into it and show us what you got.”
The Hill's full report is here.
