Spicer On Obamacare Repeal: 'We're Not There Yet'
Source: Talking Points Memo
By MATT SHUHAM Published MAY 1, 2017 2:29 PM
Asked whether there are enough GOP votes in the House to repeal and replace Obamacare, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday: “We’re not there yet.”
The effort to repeal President Obama’s signature legislative achievement was boosted among conservative Republicans and interest groups after the announcement of an amendment from Reps. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), which would allow states to opt out of some Obamacare pricing guidelines meant to shield older and sicker patients.
Spicer was responding to a reporter who asked if the effort was “a handful of votes away” from passing the House of Representatives. “Is this as close to maybe getting to that magic number that you’ve talked about?” the reporter asked.
“Well sure, once we get to 216 we’ll stop counting,” Spicer said. “I think the speaker gets that. But as I mentioned to Trey, we’re getting closer and closer every day. So I would assume today we’re a closer than we were a week ago. But we’re not there yet. And that decision is going to be wholly within the speaker and majority leader and the whip to let us know when they are going to open that vote up.”
Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/spicer-were-not-there-yet-health-care
Spicer Criticizes Press Corps: Some Want 'A Headline Rather Than A Story'
By MATT SHUHAM Published MAY 1, 2017 1:41 PM
White House press secretary Sean Spicer criticized the White House press corps Monday, saying that some questions during his daily press briefings were aimed at getting “a headline rather than a story.”
In an interview with CBS’ “This Morning,” Spicer said that the presence of TV cameras in the briefing room had intensified his exchanges with reporters.
“You know, it’s about 40 minutes a day, the rest of it is a lot calmer and a lot more pleasant,” he said. “I think the TV cameras intensify what goes on there. But most of the exchanges are very pleasant throughout the day. You’re just seeing one glimpse of what happens.”
The press, Spicer added later, has a “duty” to ask him tough questions, but he hedged that some reporters’ questions didn’t correspond with substantive articles. “We want to talk about what we’re doing,” he said. “They have a right, and a duty, frankly, to ask tough questions and get to the bottom of things. I think there’s a difference though about the tone that occurs sometimes, and an attempt to try to get a headline rather than a story.”
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