Obamacare: Where two insiders think the GOP goes from here
President Donald Trump on Tuesday night exhorted Congress to immediately repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, getting multiple standing ovations. Just one problem: Republicans still don’t have a clear blueprint to do it. On this episode of PULSE CHECK, we look at the state of Obamacare repeal, with the conservative and moderate wings of the Republican party feuding over next steps. As of now, the party doesn't have the votes to move forward. First, Tevi Troy of the American Health Policy Institute — a former White House staffer and HHS deputy secretary under President George W. Bush — joins Dan Diamond to explain the strategy and power behind Trump’s speech, assess the administration’s progress after 40 days, and discuss whether Trump is the right president to take a 3 a.m. emergency phone call. (Starts at the 1:45 mark.) Then after the break, Adam Brandon, president of FreedomWorks, explains why he’s thrilled that Sens. Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz are making a stand against the House GOP’s repeal bill, which reforms that he wants to see in an ACA replacement, and how he views the Democrat-led town hall protests last week — a tactic that FreedomWorks helped pioneer for Republicans in 2009. (Starts at the 30:50 mark.) We’d appreciate your help: Please share PULSE CHECK and rate us on your favorite podcast app! Have questions, suggestions or feedback? Email ddiamond@politico.com.