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Gov. Paul LePage is lining up with President Donald Trump and against many congressional Republicans after intra-party squabbling made leaders pull a proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Friday.
The Republican governor was against the bill at its rollout early this month, but he went public in support of it on Thursday after Republicans made changes to the bill that he and other conservatives had asked for, such as an earlier wind-down of support for Medicaid expansion.
But conservatives wanted a fuller repeal, while a bloc of moderate Republicans including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine opposed it after an estimate found that it would make 14 million people lose coverage by 2018 and increase premiums for many between ages 50 and 64.
On Thursday, LePage told WGAN that Republicans may have been moving too fast on health care. When asked if the bill was worthy of support, he said it was “improving.” But later that day, his office released a letter dated Wednesday in which he and other governors backed it with his spokeswoman calling it “a start.”
By Saturday, he was in war mode, telling Fox News’ Neil Cavuto that “any Republican that did not support this effort for fixing the ACA, I think they should lose the next election” and “Congress is broken” with a “constitutional crisis” looming.
“I think the American people elected Donald Trump to bring some change and some reform to this country and if the Republicans in Congress don’t realize it, it’s time for you go home,” LePage said.
The governor will be bartending for charity in Hallowell tonight, so we’ll try to ask him more — or at least ask him for a stiff drink. More on that in tomorrow’s Daily Brief.
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