Category Archives: Freedom

House Speaker Paul Ryan cancelled the vote on the GOP's health care bill that would've replaced Obamacare, saying he could not get enough votes to support it. USA TODAY

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C.(Photo: MICHAEL REYNOLDS, EPA)

WASHINGTON Despite calling Freedom Caucus members friends last week, President Trump seemed to take aim Sunday at the Republican hard-line conservatives and blame them in part for the collapse of the partys health care repeal plan.

Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare! Trump tweeted early Sunday.

The tweet came on the heels of a major blow for Republicans when leaders pulled Friday theirplan to replace and repeal the Affordable Care Act, because they didn't have enough GOP support to pass the measure.Several moderate Republicans andmembers of the Freedom Caucus vowednot to support it.All the Democrats were expected to vote against it.

Freedom Caucus members defended their positions, saying the plan pushed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., cost too much and didn't do enough to repeal the law.Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman ofthe caucus, didn't directly challenge's Trump charge, but said it's "incumbent upon''moderates and conservatives tocome together.

"I can tell you as I've looked at all of this, I said, could I have spent a little bit more time, should I have spent more time with the Tuesday Group, more time with Democrats to find some consensus,'' Meadows, R-N.C., said on ABCs This Week."As we look at this today, this is not the end of the debate."

The Tuesday Group consists of more moderate House Republicans.

Trump said Friday he was surprisedthere wasnt moresupport from the FreedomCaucus, but he didnt blame themfordeciding not to vote on the bill.

Im disappointed, but theyre friends of mine, he said then. Its a very hard time for them and very hard vote. But theyre very good people."

Democrats were quick to jump on the defeat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called it "a victory for all Americans."

Meadows said Democrats shouldn't consider the fight over.

If they're applauding, they shouldn't, because I can tell you that conversations over the last 48 hours are really about how we come together in the Republican conference and try to get this over the finish line," he said.

Senate Minority Leader ChuckSchumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats are willing to work with Republicans on an effort to improve the ACA.

We have ideas. They have ideas, to try to improve Obamacare, Schumer said on This Week.We never said it was perfect. We always said we'd work with them to improve it. We just said repeal was off the table.

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Collapse of Obamacare repeal plan puts Freedom Caucus in complicated spot

Republicans give up on Obamacare repeal bill, move on to other issues

Trump's anti-Freedom Caucus tweet followed another Twitter burst on Saturday morning, in which he urged his Twitter followers to watch the Saturday night show of Jeanine Pirro, a Fox television show host and former prosecutor.

Pirro opened the show by calling on Ryan to step down as speaker, becausehe failed to delivered the votes on the GOP health care plan the one he had seven years to work on.

This is not on President Trump, Pirro said.

Trump's sweet about Pirro and her call to oust Ryan were "coincidental,' saidReince Priebus, the White House chief of staff and a close Ryan ally.

There was no preplanning here, he said on Fox News Sunday.

Priebus said Trump spoke to Ryan Saturday and doesnt want him to step down.

He doesnt blame Paul Ryan, he said. In fact, he thought Paul Ryan worked really hard. He enjoyed his relationship with Paul Ryan. Thinks that Paul Ryan is a great speaker of the House. None of that has changed.

Priebusalso shot down reports that Trump blames him. Im not in any trouble, he said.

Mick Mulvaney,director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said on NBC's Meet the Pressthathe hasn't heard Trump blame Ryan.

The folks who voted no are the folks to blame,'' said Mulvaney, a former member of the Freedom Caucus.

Trump praised Ryan Friday for his efforts to pass thebill. Heblamed Democrats for thedefeat saying they will be held responsible for problems withthe AffordableCare Act."They own it; 100% own it," Trump said.

Trump, Ryan and other Republican leaders worked for days to sway their colleagues, inviting them to the White House and meeting with them behind-closed door in the Capitol.

The irony is that the Freedom Caucus, which is very pro-life and against Planned Parenthood, allows P.P. to continue if they stop this plan!, Trump tweeted last week.

Contributing: Erin Kelly

Follow Deborah Barfield Berry at @dberrygannett.com

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Trump takes aim at Freedom Caucus over defeat of GOP health care plan - USA TODAY

"In order to deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward," the Texas Republican said in a statement. "Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead."

House leaders pulled the GOP health care bill from consideration Friday after it became clear Republicans did not have enough votes to pass the legislation, in part because of near-unified opposition from the Freedom Caucus.

In the days since, the House leadership announced the Republican Party would move on from its seven-year promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and the House Freedom Caucus has taken a large share of the blame for the defeat.

One GOP leadership aide predicted that Poe's defection, which Fox News first reported, could be just the first of the defections from the group.

"I feel like they've ostracized themselves like they haven't ever done before," the aide told CNN. "I think this could be a breaking point for the membership of the Freedom Caucus."

The Freedom Caucus didn't immediately return a request for comment Sunday.

Throughout the negotiations, the caucus' chairman, Mark Meadows, said he was trying to get to "yes" and bring his members along. But in the end, the North Carolina Republican couldn't deliver the votes even after it appeared there might be a breakthrough Wednesday.

The Trump administration had offered the Freedom Caucus a repeal of Obamacare's "essential health benefits," regulatory changes that would mean insurers no longer would have to include benefits such as maternity care or mental health coverage in their plans. But the caucus rejected the olive branch, arguing that it alone would not be enough to drive down premiums.

The Freedom Caucus continued to push to repeal popular pieces of Obamacare, such as the requirement that insurers cover people with preexisting conditions, something President Donald Trump had publicly said he wanted to keep in place.

The President felt burned by the Freedom Caucus's rejection of the compromise, a White House official said.

"It wasn't about the policy," the official told CNN. "It didn't matter what policy we made because they (the Freedom Caucus) didn't want a deal. We were captives in an internal House caucus fight. The Freedom Caucus had too much interest in killing this to send a message to Speaker Ryan: 'You have too much power.'"

On Sunday morning, Trump wasted little time publicly rebuking the conservative group.

"Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!," the President tweeted.

Of course, members of the caucus weren't the only Republicans opposed to the health care bill. A collection of moderates including Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania and powerful House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, had also come out against the bill.

But Trump now seems to recognize the House Freedom Caucus's history as a rabble-rousing collection of leadership agitators, and being a part of a group the White House thinks brought down its first major legislative effort could be a politically vulnerable position.

"They have a history of losing members after they've gone too far and their position is indefensible to the rest of the conference," the senior GOP aide said Sunday after Poe announced his departure. "It also probably doesn't help that the President of the United States publicly rebuked them this morning minutes before two of their leaders hit the Sunday shows."

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First casualty for House Freedom Caucus after health care meltdown - CNN

The chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus said there is no talk of replacing House Speaker Paul Ryan after the Republicans' proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare was killed because it failed to garner enough GOP support.

On Saturday -- hours after Donald Trump tweeted to his followers, Watch @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews tonight at 9:00 P.M. Jeanine Pirro opened her show with a call for House Speaker Paul Ryan to step down in the wake of the health care bill's failure.

Along the same lines, the conservative website Breitbart raised the possibility that the head of the House Freedom Caucus, Mark Meadows of North Carolina, could replace Ryan as speaker.

Pressed by ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on whether he supports Ryan, Meadows said Sunday: "I can tell you there is no conversation going on right now with regard to replacing the speaker.

The Freedom Caucus opposed the Republican health care bill, but Meadows said on ABC's "This Week" that conservative and moderate GOP lawmakers are going to have to work together to achieve their shared agenda.

"It's all hands on deck with regards to Obamacare, tax reform, the border wall," he said.

Stephanopoulos asked Meadows about Trump's tweet earlier Sunday morning that singled out the Freedom Caucus for its opposition the health care bill, with the president saying that Democrats are "smiling" over the failure to pass the legislation.

"Well, I mean, if they're applauding, they shouldn't," Meadows said. "I can tell you that conversations over the last 48 hours are really about how we come together in the Republican conference and try to get this over the finish line."

The congressman added, "This was not a final passage. This was one bill that was going to go to the Senate, get revised, and come back ... We are in the negotiation process."

Meadows said it is premature to think that the GOP effort to repeal and replace Obamacare is over: "It's like saying that Tom Brady lost at halftime We may be in overtime, but I can tell you at the very end of the day, the most valuable player will be President Trump on this because he will deliver. Trump has said the next big item on his agenda is tax reform, and Stephanopoulos asked Meadows whether any tax cuts would be balanced by spending reductions or other revenue increases.

You say real tax reform. Does that mean any tax cuts must be fully paid for? You're not going to pass tax cuts that are not matched with other revenue increases or spending cuts? Stephanopoulos asked.

Tax reform and lowering taxes, you know, will create and generate more income, said Meadows. "Does it have to be fully offset? My personal response is no.

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'No conversation' happening on replacing Speaker Paul Ryan: House Freedom Caucus chair - ABC News

New York Times

Amid Leaks, Recalling an Epic Battle Over Press Freedom in Nixon Era New York Times Taking a page from Nixon, President Trump is waging his own battle against leaks, which threatens to damage Americans' right to know. By RETRO REPORT on Publish Date March 26, 2017. Photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times. Watch in Times ...

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Amid Leaks, Recalling an Epic Battle Over Press Freedom in Nixon Era - New York Times

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Rep. Ted Poe has resigned from the House Freedom Caucus after members of the group refused to vote in favor of the proposed American Health Care Act, which Paul Ryan pulled on Friday when he realized it did not have the votes to pass.

(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

I have resigned from the House Freedom Caucus, Poe wrote in a statement Sunday. In order to deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward.

Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective Member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead.

Trump blamed the Freedom Caucus in part for the bills failure on Twitter earlier that day.

Poe tweeted this earlier in the week.

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House Freedom Caucus Member Resigns Over Health Care Battle - Daily Caller

NewsBusters (blog)

NBC's MTP Takes a Hatchet to 'Area 51' Freedom Caucus and Cruel GOP NewsBusters (blog) In the wake of the failure of the House GOP's health care legislation on Friday, blame was being hurled all over Washington. And during Sunday's Meet the Press on NBC, the panel joined in and savagely began tearing into the different factions of the ... and more »

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NBC's MTP Takes a Hatchet to 'Area 51' Freedom Caucus and Cruel GOP - NewsBusters (blog)

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Wednesday night he and President Trump have come to an agreement in principle on a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, just one day before a highly anticipated House vote on the bill.

The president and I came to an agreement in principle, Meadows said during an interview with Fox Newss Sean Hannity, adding that he was still ironing out a few final details with the White House.

I think what we're trying to do now is make sure that our agreement is actually something that can be executed in a way that passes the Senate, he added. There's still work to be done, but I can tell you that the president is all engaged."

But those changes have now alienated some centrist Republicans, who met with Ryan and his leadership team for more than two hours Wednesday night to discuss the impact of moving the bill to the right.

After the meeting, one of the leaders of the centrist Tuesday Group, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), announced he was opposed to the legislation, warning that the bill would cause too many Americans to lose insurance coverage.

I believe this bill, in its current form, will lead to the loss of coverage and make insurance unaffordable for too many Americans, Dent said in a statement, particularly for low-to-moderate income and older individuals.

Meadows said Trump has been the crucial factor in working toward a deal and even personally called him during a Freedom Caucus meeting Wednesday night.

A GOP source said the White House has offered to include repeal of the essential health benefits in the bill.

Our request has been consistent about Title I and essential health benefits and so that's really what we're discussing,Meadows said earlier in the day as he left a meeting with Freedom Caucus colleagues.

We're encouraged just based on the real willingness of not only the White House but our leadership to make this bill better, he added, noting he hopes to work around the clock to hopefully have a final deal by around noon Thursday.

Meadows has changed his comments markedly since earlier in the day Wednesday, when he pledged that leaders lacked the votes to pass the bill and called on them to start over.

Conservatives say repeal of the essential health benefits, which mandate what an insurance plan must cover, is necessary to bring down premiums. Republican leaders had been wary, though, given that it is in doubt whether repeal of those regulations would be allowed under Senate rules that are preventing a Democratic filibuster.

Sources said the House GOP has gotten new information that including repeal of the essential health benefits would not be fatal to the entire bill in the Senate, though the provision could still be challenged under Senate rules.

But Democrats are warning that repeal of the essential health benefits will not be permitted.

Some Freedom Caucus members are more skeptical a deal can happen.

Rep. Mo BrooksMo BrooksFreedom Caucus, Trump reach 'agreement in principle' on healthcare GOP faces risky decision on ObamaCare vote Defying Trump, Freedom Caucus insists it'll oppose GOP ObamaCare replacement MORE (R-Ala.) indicated that the White House is only offering repeal of the essential health benefits and not other insurance regulations that conservatives say must be repealed.

"Weve said many times that essential health benefits by themselves would not be enough, added Rep. Justin AmashJustin AmashHealthcare fight pits Trump against Club for Growth Freedom Caucus, Trump reach 'agreement in principle' on healthcare Defying Trump, Freedom Caucus insists it'll oppose GOP ObamaCare replacement MORE (R-Mich.).

"Theres no deal in the offing, Amash added. We dont have any language on anything. Were not sure what kind of language well see."

Earlier in the day Trump won over conservative Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) by pledging a Senate vote on an amendment to add repeal of essential health benefits.

But Meadows said that a promised Senate vote is not good enough and that changes must be made in the House.

There is no denying why he has made so many deals, Meadows said of Trump. I thought I was a good dealmaker; I'm nothing compared to the president.

Cristina Marcos and Max Greenwood contributed.

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Freedom Caucus, Trump reach 'agreement in principle' on ... - The Hill - The Hill

President Donald Trump will huddle with the arch-conservative House Freedom Caucus at the White House, just hours before Speaker Paul Ryan is set to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. | AP Photo

UPDATE 1:35 p.m.:

President Donald Trump failed to reach a deal with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus to amend the Republican Obamacare replacement bill ahead of an expected vote later Thursday.

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Many lawmakers from the three-dozen-member caucus huddled at the White House with Trump and his senior leadership team, but they emerged without guaranteeing their support for the GOP bill. With little margin for defections and eroding support from moderates, House leaders need most Freedom Caucus members to support the bill.

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President Donald Trump will engage in the most high-stakes negotiation of his young presidency Thursday, as he tries to sell hard-line conservatives on a GOP Obamacare replacement they despise.

Trump will huddle with the arch-conservative House Freedom Caucus at the White House, just hours before Speaker Paul Ryan is set to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

There were daunting obstacles to a deal heading into the decisive meeting.

A number of Freedom Caucus members have suggested Trumps latest concession repealing Obamacare's mandate that insurance plans provide a minimum level of "essential" benefits isnt enough. The group wants a complete repeal of all Affordable Care Act regulations including popular provisions Trump promised he would maintain.

The conservatives' target list encompasses a prohibition against discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions and a requirement that adults up to age 26 can remain on their parents health insurance.

Repealing [essential health benefits], w/out making other substantial changes, would make the bill worse, not better, tweeted Freedom Caucus member Justin Amash (R-Mich.). It would hurt the sickest people on exchanges.

If Trump fails to clinch an agreement with the group, the Republican effort to repeal Obamacare will be all but dead.

Ryan (R-Wis.) can afford to lose only 22 votes on the floor. The House Freedom Caucus has three dozen members, who have vowed to block the bill unless they get what they want. Roughly a dozen centrist Republicans also have come out against the bill.

The Freedom Caucus has been a constant thorn in the side of House GOP leadership, sinking bills its members believe were too accommodating to Democrats. The group was expected to fall in line behind Trump after he won. Its refusal to do so on the health care bill has moved the legislation toward the far right.

But now, the Freedom Caucus has to decide whether it's truly willing to deliver a stinging defeat to the Republican president.

Many House Republicans are furious at the Freedom Caucus, saying the group keeps moving the goal posts, and they argue that the group really just wants to sink the health care bill altogether.

The president is good at negotiating, but he has to have someone who wants to get to yes, Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), an ardent Trump supporter, told POLITICO. I was never able to sell a car or a truck to someone who didnt want a car or a truck. It just doesnt work. And thats where we are right now. I dont think theyre really interested in getting to an end.

He then added: Maybe the end is: making sure it doesnt pass.

Group insiders contend they havent changed their demands at all. They said theyve always needed a repeal of all Obamacare regulations.

The Freedom Caucus risks overplaying its hand if it continues to hold out support for the bill. Trump has made clear he wants to get health care passed and move on. If he loses his patience with them, they could find themselves in his crosshairs.

The meeting with Trump comes not 24 hours after the group huddled with Vice President Mike Pence and Trumps most senior advisers. In recent days, the group had been emphasizing that it needed a repeal of Obamacare's "essential health benefits" requirement something GOP leaders for months have said would be fatal to the bill in the Senate because of the chambers arcane budget rules.

But Trump officials asked Ryan to reassess that diagnosis, and GOP leadership agreed to add the provision.

The odds of the entire group coming on board without a commitment to axing all Affordable Care Act regulations, however, look slim.

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Trump fails to strike health care deal with Freedom Caucus - Politico

Freedom Houses Deborah Drennan celebrates with a 1-year-old whose parents fled their homeland.(Photo: Neal Rubin / The Detroit News)Buy Photo

Joy, it turns out, needs no translation.

Word came by phone early Wednesday that the time of peril had passed at Freedom House that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had reversed itself, and the grant that makes up more than half the shelters annual budget would be renewed as of March 31.

There had been a technical error in scoring, executive director Deborah Drennan was told. With the recount, the 34-year-old portal to the American Way would in fact receive the $390,841 whose denial had sparked near-panic and then an outpouring of support in the last five weeks.

The lawfully admitted asylum-seekers who pass through the former convent in southwest Detroit some 1,400 of them in the past decade would continue to take the first steps there on their way to self-sufficiency and frequently citizenship: legal help, counseling, language classes, job training and anything else that smooths the path to refuge.

Wednesday afternoon, it was time to deliver the good news to the 30 or so adults among the 43 current residents whove fled something horrific in their home countries: religious or political persecution, beatings, torture, kidnapping, rape. They had returned from their English classes and gathered in a small room, and an already-bilingual resident repeated Drennans welcome into the French many of them spoke in West or Central Africa.

Then Drennan said, We got the funding. We won our appeal, and maybe it was her exultation more than her message, but the cheers and clapping and triumphant raising of fists came so quickly the translator didnt need to say a word.

The mood in the house had changed, said Drennan, 61, after a change in priorities at HUD appeared to have put Freedom House in jeopardy. The residents were assured their asylum cases would go forward, but they watched others get turned away.

They have a connection here, she said, as do the nonprofits thousands of alumni. Theyre doing what theyre supposed to, and she felt responsible that, suddenly, it wasnt enough.

Except that now, it is.

The HUD representative she spoke to said that further explanation would arrive by mail. The important thing is that their appeal was successful. The next-most-important thing is that since word spread in mid-February, including in The Detroit News, supporters have made their presence known with cards, letters and all-important checks.

Freedom House collected $300,000, a goodly chunk of its $750,000 annual budget enough that Drennan is planning to fill 2 1/2 open positions on her small staff, even as she works on keeping the accelerated donations coming.

Enclosed is my gift of $100 in support of your efforts to assist freedom seekers to build a better life for themselves, one letter said.

A couple in Alabama sent $5,000: We are so upset about HUDs decision and can not imagine the panic you have been feeling for the work that is so crucial in our world of hurt and pain.

Founded by Roman Catholic activists in 1983 when most refugees were fleeing Central American death squads, Freedom House reports that 86 percent of its clients are granted political asylum and 93 percent wind up in permanent independent housing. But its role by definition is transitional housing, which appeared to be what initially put it crosswise with HUD.

As explained by executive director Tasha Gray of the local liaison with HUD, the Homeless Action Network of Detroit (HAND), temporary lodging is not a priority nationwide.

HAND supervises HUDs Continuum of Care funding in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park. It helps coordinate local efforts to attack homelessness and manages the collection of grant applications that requested $24.6 million for 53 projects.

After Freedom House and three other agencies had their applications denied, Gray said Wednesday, we had sent in a request to provide a formal debriefing, because we wanted to know how they had scored our overall application.

The other three agencies also appealed and were quickly denied. Gray does not yet know whether her request affected HUDs recount for Freedom House.

Were definitely optimistic well continue to receive funding for homeless programs, she said. Given the budget blueprint released by President Donald Trumps administration last week, her concern is what percentage of the current package will survive.

Drennan is likewise bracing for cuts in HUDs next fiscal year, having seen the budget and the administrations overall concern for any human rights.

Her challenge, she said, is to turn the past months donors into sustaining partners. But thats longer term. Short term Wednesday, she had an important question for a colleague: Should we have confetti?

No, came the response, because someone would have to sweep it up. But a celebration was in order.

Some of our residents have been fasting, Drennan said, eating only in the evening as a form of prayer for Freedom House. Many looked tense as they found themselves in an unscheduled meeting on a bright, brisk afternoon.

Then came the announcement and the applause, and Drennans response.

Merci beaucoup, her helper said in turn, and as she finished, more raucous applause broke out.

A volunteer had brought in a celebratory dessert, inscribed Congratulations Freedom House! It turns out cake doesnt need translation, either.

nrubin@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @nealrubin_dn

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Rubin: At Freedom House joy, a recount and $390000 - The Detroit News

WASHINGTON House Republican leaders and President Donald Trump are scrambling to get the support necessary to hold a vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act today, the seventh anniversary of its signing.

After negotiations all through Wednesday night and into Thursday, it's not clear a deal can be reached.

On Thursday afternoon, it seemed prospects for passage hinged on whether members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus were willing to go along with a new agreement to get rid of Obamacare's "essential health benefits" identified as one cause of high premiums.

Essential health benefits currently require health insurers to cover primary care appointments, maternity care, mental health care and hospitalizations, among other things.

But an hours-long meeting at the White House during the morning between members of the Freedom Caucus and Trump did not result in an agreement on a final deal.

South Carolina Republican Reps. Mark Sanford and Jeff Duncan were among the members who made the trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, a repeat of their visit from the day before where the discussion was defined less by carrots and more by sticks.

The tone and tenor of the follow-up meeting might have been different, given the White House and House GOP leaders were, 24 hours later, willing to offer concessions.

More than 25 of the roughly 40 Freedom Caucus members said Wednesday they were prepared to vote against the bill as currently written, arguing it didn't go far enough to dismantle Obamacare.

Sanford and Duncan have not ruled out voting for the legislation but have said consistently they have serious reservations and are leaning "no" without major changes or assurances that certain provisions would be added when it's the Senate's turn to consider the bill.

Republican leaders can only lose 22 members and still pass their bill.

In a Facebook post earlier Thursday, Duncan said the tie-in would be nice, but not at the expense of a good bill.

"Optics should not trump (pun intended) good, sound, policy which re-empowers the American people and removes government from its invasiveness in our health care," Duncan wrote. "But let me be clear: there is a fallacy that I love this seat in Congress more than I love America. I ran for Congress to return liberty to my fellow American citizens. A big part of that was to end this redistribution scheme known as Obamacare."

Meanwhile, there's no guarantee caving to demands of the Freedom Caucus would lure enough members to get the bill over the finish line, especially as moderate Republicans are becoming increasingly put off by efforts to move the legislation farther to the right. But moderates had, too, been compelled to come to the table with certain sweeteners earlier in the negotiation process.

On the other side of the Capitol, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the whole thing was reminding him a lot of what went into crafting and passing the Affordable Care Act seven years ago.

"The process seems unseemly, at best, kind of like a Turkish bazaar. Buying votes ... trying to intimidate people. That sounds like Obamacare," Graham said.

As for whether he supported stripping away essential health benefits, Graham said he wanted to "absorb the effects of that on cost and people.

"I'd like a more deliberative process," he said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Emma Dumain is The Post and Courier's Washington correspondent. Reach her at 843-834-0419 and follow her @emma_dumain.

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House Freedom Caucus summoned back to White House today as health care bill negotiations continue - Charleston Post Courier