Schumer: Trump’s ObamaCare move an ‘anchor around the neck’ of GOP

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday blasted the Trump administration’s call for the courts to strike down ObamaCare, warning that it would be a political “anchor” for every Republican heading into elections in 2020.

“The Trump position ties a two-year anchor around the neck of every Republican for the next two years. Yet again, they will be forced to defend the indefensible. It’s a stark reminder of the difference between our two parties,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.

{mosads}The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Monday that it is siding with a district court ruling that found the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, escalating the administration’s legal battle against the Obama-era health care law.

The move by the Justice Department is likely to increase pressure on GOP lawmakers to say if they support the tactics of the administration, which had already called for the pre-existing condition protections to be struck down.

Schumer added on Tuesday that the Justice Department decision was a “slap in the face” to the American people.

“How many of our Republican colleagues will go to the floor today and condemn the Trump administration? I’ll bet no one. I’ll bet no one,” he added.

The decision by the Justice Department comes in the middle of Trump’s victory lap over the end of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the 2016 election. Mueller, according to a four-page summary from Attorney General William Barr, did not conclude that the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election.

Schumer acknowledged on Tuesday that Trump and Republicans are “very happy” with the initial findings from the Mueller report, but warned that the ObamaCare move could be “far more detrimental” for Republicans than any “gains” from the special counsel’s findings.

“It’s far for more important to the American people,” he said. “Far more important to the American people because it involves their lives and the lives of their families, and the Trump administration is hurting it badly.”