WASHINGTON (AP) – The Republican Party will be rewarded for doing “what’s right” by voting to overhaul a “failing and collapsing” health care system, a top aide to President Donald Trump asserted as Democrats and at least one outside group began laying the groundwork to challenge the GOP for control of the House in the 2018 midterm election.
The health advocacy group Save My Care on Monday announced the launch of a six-figure TV and digital advertising campaign beginning this week, targeting 24 Republican House members who voted last week to repeal the health care law enacted under President Barack Obama.
But White House chief of staff Reince Priebus scoffed at the notion that Republicans will lose control of the House in 2018. He said the bill that narrowly cleared the House last week and which faces significant revision by the Senate will be an improvement over the current system of limited choice and rising costs.
“There are some times in life you have to do what’s right, not what’s politically expedient,” Priebus said Sunday. “We’re going to do something better and we’re going to do our job as legislators to get this thing done. I think that the Republican Party will be rewarded.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said he was not concerned about political fallout because of the vote.