GOP healthcare critics invited to bowl at White House

The White House is hoping a night at the bowling lanes will knock down conservative opposition to its plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare. 

Members of the House Freedom Caucus, which panned the White House-backed proposal, have been invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. next week for a pizza dinner and policy discussion at the bowling alley, according to a caucus source. 

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, a former member of the caucus, extended the invitation to several lawmakers after meeting with them Tuesday evening.

{mosads}President Trump and his team are ramping up pressure on conservative holdouts to get behind the GOP’s repeal-and-replace bill, which would eliminate many aspects of the Affordable Care Act and create a new tax credit to help people buy insurance. 

Freedom Caucus members and outside conservative groups have trashed the plan, saying it falls short of fully repealing ObamaCare while creating an expensive new entitlement. 

Trump is meeting on Wednesday afternoon with several conservative lawmakers and representatives of outside groups, such as Americans for Prosperity, in the Roosevelt Room. 

Vice President Mike Pence met with the Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and the group’s former head, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the day before. 

“We are out in full sell mode,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Wednesday.