President Donald Trump hosts a working lunch with members of Congress, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (left), at the White House on June 13. | Getty Trump knocks House health care bill as too harsh The president offered no detailed directives, but pressed for a deal. 
 
 President Donald Trump directed Senate Republicans to pass a generous health care bill at a meeting with more than a dozen GOP senators on Tuesday, arguing that the austere House health care bill is difficult to defend, according to people familiar with the meeting. 
 
 The president also said Republicans risk getting savaged in the 2018 midterms if they fail to repeal Obamacare after a seven-year campaign against the law. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 But he made clear that the Senate needs to pass a bill that Republicans are able to more easily defend and is not viewed as an attack on Americans from low-income households, as the House bill has been portrayed by critics, the sources said. He also advocated more robust tax credits for people who buy insurance on the individual market, a move that would increase the bill’s cost. 
 
 Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who is pushing the Senate to slow the repeal of Medicaid expansion, indicated Trump is concerned about the people who are enrolled in the program for low-income Americans. 
 
 “He talked about the need to take care of people,” Portman said of the president. 
 
 The gathering included 13 GOP senators of varying ideological stripes, from the moderate Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to the conservative Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas. The meeting left some Republicans on Capitol Hill with the impression that Trump is siding with more moderate Republicans, particularly when it comes to winding down Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, which brought insurance coverage to millions of people. 
 
 Trump has told associates that news coverage of the House health care bill was “terrible,” in the words of one associate who has spoken with him. 
 
 Trump threw a party in the Rose Garden celebrating the passage of the House bill and has publicly called it “terrific.” 
 
 The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. 
 
 But aides and associates said he has not liked the news coverage and has shown little interest in what is in the bill — but wants it to be received well. 
 
 Conservatives want to wind down the expansion quickly and curtail future Medicaid spending, while more centrist senators are trying to preserve as much coverage as possible. Republicans said Trump spent a significant portion of the meeting observing senators disagreeing over the matter. 
 
 Murkowski, who, like Portman, is from a state that expanded Medicaid, said she made it clear to the president that she is concerned about repealing the expansion. 
 
 “I reinforced that I think Medicaid expansion has been very important to the state of Alaska,” she said. 
 
 Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who is arguing to constrain future Medicaid spending to a rate lower than the House bill provides, said finding the sweet spot “remains a challenge.” 
 
 “It feels like we’re making a little bit of progress. It’s slow, but it was always going to be a tough slog,” said Toomey, who attended the meeting. 
 
 A White House official said Trump did not take a firm position on Medicaid, which is the subject of much deliberation within the Senate Republican Conference. Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, attended both the White House meeting and a subsequent GOP lunch on health care, playing point for the administration on the matter. 
 
 And rather than instructing senators to meet hard deadlines, Trump urged Republicans to have a more orderly process than the chaotic one in the House. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying to call for a vote this month, though it may slip until July due to ideological disagreements and the difficulty of drafting such a complex bill. 
 
 The president asked Republicans to set aside their vast policy differences and find consensus. 
 
 “The message really was, ‘I know you have your differences, but work through them and let’s figure out a way to get it done,’” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). “We have to get a product.” 
 
 “He wants us to pass this bill and improve this House bill,” Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah told reporters. 
 
 Republican senators believe it will be at least a week before a coherent blueprint emerges for the GOP to chew over. Leaders are still going back and forth with the Congressional Budget Office to lay out options for Medicaid and tax credits and how much each option would cost. 
 
 Hatch told reporters that he doesn’t think there will be a bill this week. If that prediction holds, it would be difficult for the Senate to vote on legislation before the Fourth of July recess. 
 
 McConnell refused to tell reporters when a bill might be released or how long it would be available to the public before a vote. 
 
 “We’ll let you see the bill when we finally release it,” McConnell said. “Nobody’s hiding the ball here.” 
 
 Trump has taken a much more hands-off approach to the Senate bill than he took with the House version. Many senators expect the president to weigh in with more one-on-one or group lobbying as the GOP gets closer to moving a bill to the Senate floor. 
 
 “He’ll be a big help, but I think the timing is important. And he’ll be an important part of this,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas). “We need to consult among ourselves and come up with a consensus.” 
 
 Adam Cancryn contributed to this report. ||||| Senate Republican leaders on Thursday unveiled a revised version of their bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare as they race toward a high-stakes vote next week. 
 
 
 
 The measure includes changes intended to win over additional votes, with leadership making concessions aimed at bringing both conservatives and moderates on board. (READ THE BILL HERE.) 
 
 
 
 But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump dismissed warnings from GOP leaders that party could lose House: report Gender and race shouldn't define your politics Trump’s budget chief talks spending clawback with key chairman MORE (R-Ky.) is facing a tough task in finding enough votes to pass the bill. Sens. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsHow long must women wait? Senators hope Trump's next VA pick will be less controversial GOP moves to cut debate time for Trump nominees MORE (R-Maine) and Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulPompeo vote won’t guarantee Democrats a win in November Overnight Defense: Uncertainty for VA after Trump pick withdraws | Veterans groups hope for more input | Pompeo confirmed as secretary of State | Mattis defends Iran deal as Trump deadline nears Overnight Cybersecurity: DHS chief eyes new ways to bolster cyber workforce | Dems grill Diamond and Silk | Senate panel approves bill to protect Mueller | Two-thirds of agencies using email fraud tool MORE (R-Ky.) appear to be firmly against the measure, and one other defection would kill the bill. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 Overall, McConnell appears to have shifted the revised bill more toward the conservatives than the moderates.Importantly, the bill largely keeps the Medicaid sections the same, meaning that deeper cuts to the program will still begin in 2025, and the funds for ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid will still end in 2024.The changes to Medicaid have emerged as a top concern for moderates such as Sens.(R-Ohio),(R-W.Va.) and(R-Alaska).The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that those Medicaid changes in the original bill would result in 15 million fewer people being enrolled in the program and cut spending by $772 billion over 10 years. 
 
 Collins said she still plans to vote against a motion to proceed to the bill, adding that the legislation should move through the normal committee process. 
 
 "My strong inclination and current intention is to vote no on the motion to proceed," Collins told reporters after leaving a briefing on the legislation. 
 
 "The only way I'd change my mind is if there's something in the new bill that wasn't discussed or that I didn't fully understand or the CBO estimate comes out and says they fixed the Medicaid cuts, which I don't think that's going to happen." 
 
 
 
 For the conservatives, the measure includes a version of an amendment from Sens. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzBritish toddler at center of legal battle dies after taken off life support Kushner expected to attend opening of Jerusalem embassy: CNN Handholding with South Korea aside, North Korea still has its nukes MORE (R-Texas) and Mike Lee Michael (Mike) Shumway LeeOvernight Cybersecurity: DHS chief eyes new ways to bolster cyber workforce | Dems grill Diamond and Silk | Senate panel approves bill to protect Mueller | Two-thirds of agencies using email fraud tool The Hill's 12:30 Report Senate panel approves bill to protect special counsel MORE (R-Utah) aimed at allowing insurers to offer plans that do not meet all of ObamaCare’s regulations, including those protecting people with pre-existing conditions and mandating that plans cover certain services, such as maternity care and mental healthcare. 
 
 
 
 Conservatives argue the change would allow healthier people to buy cheaper plans, but moderates and many healthcare experts warn that premiums would spike for the sick people remaining in the more generous insurance plans. 
 
 Cruz said he will support the bill so long as the provisions he sees as a priority are not changed in amendment votes on the floor. 
 
 "If this is the bill, I will support this bill," Cruz told reporters after a meeting of GOP senators. "Now, if it’s amended and we lose the protections that lower premiums, my view could well change." 
 
 Senate Republicans had vowed to not change the ObamaCare protections for people from being charged more based on their health in their bill, which is why the debate over the Cruz-Lee amendment has been heated. 
 
 A Senate GOP aide said Thursday it is possible that the Cruz amendment would not be analyzed by the CBO in time for the vote next week. It is possible the Department of Health and Human Services could provide an alternative analysis. 
 
 Lee cautioned that he was not involved in the changes to the proposal, including the amendment, and would have to review the new language before deciding whether to support it. 
 
 The bill does include new funding, $70 billion over seven years, aimed at easing costs for those sick people remaining in the ObamaCare plans. 
 
 However, the new measure does not boost the generosity of the tax credits, as some moderates wanted. It still replaces ObamaCare’s tax credits to help people afford insurance with a smaller, scaled-down tax credit that provides less assistance. 
 
 The Kaiser Family Foundation found premium costs would increase an average of 74 percent for the most popular healthcare plan, given the reduced assistance in the GOP bill. 
 
 The new measure will leave in place two ObamaCare taxes on the wealthy, in a departure from the initial bill. 
 
 That original measure lacked the support to pass, as more moderate members pointed to the CBO's finding that 22 million fewer people would have insurance over a decade. 
 
 Senate Republicans are now awaiting a new score of the revised legislation from the CBO, which could come early next week. 
 
 The new bill does include $45 billion to fight opioid addiction, but moderates such as Capito and Portman who hail from states where the problem is rampant have said they also want changes to the Medicaid portion of the legislation. 
 
 Portman said his position on the bill had not changed, but he did not give a clear answer on whether he'd back his party on the procedural vote. 
 
 “I'm the same position I've been in. I'm looking at the language,” he said. 
 
 Capito also said she doesn’t know whether she’ll vote to proceed to the bill. 
 
 “We have another meeting this afternoon on the Medicaid cuts,” she told reporters. “I need to really look at it, look at the score; I still have concerns.” 
 
 Asked if she would vote for the motion to proceed next week, she said, “Wait and see.” 
 
 In a change that could appeal to Murkowski, the bill sets aside 1 percent of the stability funds for states with costs that are 75 percent above the national average, which would benefit high-cost states like Alaska. 
 
 — This story was updated at 3:15 p.m. Alexander Bolton contributed. ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — In a gamble with monumental political stakes, Republicans set course for a climactic House vote on their health care overhaul after President Donald Trump claimed he was finished negotiating with GOP holdouts and determined to pursue the rest of his agenda, win or lose. 
 
 House Speaker Paul Ryan set the showdown for Friday, following a nighttime Capitol meeting at which top White House officials told GOP lawmakers that Trump had decided the time for talk was over. 
 
 "We have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because it's collapsing and it's failing families. And tomorrow we're proceeding," Ryan tersely told reporters after scheduling what loomed as the most momentous vote to date for Trump and for the Wisconsin Republican's own speakership. 
 
 In an embarrassing and stinging setback hours earlier, leaders abruptly postponed the vote because a rebellion by conservatives and moderates would have doomed the measure. They'd hoped for a roll call Thursday, which marked the seventh anniversary of President Barack Obama's enactment of his landmark health care statute that Republicans have vowed ever since to annul. 
 
 There was no evidence that leaders had nailed down sufficient support to prevail, nor that their decision to charge ahead was a feint and that they'd delay again if necessary. But they seemed to be calculating that at crunch time, enough dissidents would decide against sabotaging the bill, Trump's young presidency and the House GOP leadership's ability to set the agenda, with a single, crushing defeat. 
 
 "The president has said he wants the vote tomorrow," White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney told the lawmakers, according to Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., a Trump ally. "If for any reason it goes down, we're just going to move forward with additional parts of his agenda. This is our moment in time." 
 
 Even if they prevail, Republicans face an uphill climb in the Senate, where conservatives and moderates are also threatening to sink it. 
 
 The GOP bill eliminates the Obama statute's unpopular fines on those who do not obtain coverage and the often generous subsidies for those who purchase insurance. 
 
 Instead, consumers would face a 30 percent premium penalty if they let coverage lapse. Republican tax credits would be based on age, not income. The bill would also end Obama's Medicaid expansion and trim future federal financing for the federal-state program and let states impose work requirements on some of its 70 million beneficiaries. 
 
 In a bid to coax support from conservatives, House leaders proposed a fresh amendment — to be voted on Friday — repealing Obama's requirement that insurers cover 10 specified services like maternity and mental health care. Conservatives have demanded the removal of those and other conditions the law imposes on insurers, arguing they drive premiums skyward. 
 
 Many moderates are opposed because they say the GOP bill would leave many voters uninsured. Medical associations, consumer groups and hospitals are opposed or voicing misgivings, and some Republican governors say the bill cuts Medicaid too deeply and would leave many low-income people uncovered. 
 
 Republicans can lose only 22 votes in the face of united Democratic opposition. A tally by The Associated Press found at least 32 "no" votes, but the figure was subject to fluctuation amid frantic GOP lobbying. 
 
 Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., head of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, said he remained a "no" but didn't answer when asked whether the group still had enough votes to kill the legislation. He'd long said caucus opposition alone would defeat it without changes. 
 
 One member of that group, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., responded indirectly when asked if his opposition had changed. 
 
 "Everybody asked us to take a moment and reflect. Well, we'll reflect," he said. 
 
 Other foes said they'd not flipped. These included moderate Reps. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, Dan Donovan of New York and Leonard Lance of New Jersey, plus conservative Walter Jones of North Carolina, who had his own words of warning. 
 
 "He's there for three-and-a-half more years," Jones said of Trump. "He better be careful. He's got a lot of issues coming." 
 
 The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said changes Republican leaders had proposed before Thursday to win votes had cut the legislation's deficit reduction by more than half, to $150 billion over the next decade. But it would still result in 24 million more uninsured people in a decade. 
 
 Obama's law increased coverage through subsidized private insurance for people who don't have access to workplace plans, and a state option to expand Medicaid for low-income residents. More than 20 million people gained coverage since the law was passed in 2010. 
 
 Many who purchase individual health insurance and make too much to qualify for the law's tax credits have seen their premiums jump and their choices diminished. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Matt Daly, Kevin Freking, Mary Clare Jalonick, Richard Lardner, Stephen Ohlemacher, Vivian Salama, Ken Thomas and Erica Werner contributed to this report. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Leigh Ann Caldwell 
 
 WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Monday night that he lacked the votes to pass the Senate health care bill after two more Republican senators came out against it, leaving the party short of a majority. 
 
 Instead, he said the Senate would vote on a full repeal of Obamacare, with two years before the repeal goes into effect to allow time to create a new system. The new plan may appear to fulfill a seven-year GOP promise, but it faces extremely difficult odds after many moderate Republican senators have already come out against repeal without an immediate replacement. 
 
 Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Mike Lee of Utah set the chain of events in motion Monday night when they announced on Twitter that they both would oppose the current bill, which was released just last week. 
 
 Moran and Lee followed two other Republican senators who had already said they wouldn't support the bill: Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine. 
 
 "After conferring with trusted experts regarding the latest version of the Consumer Freedom Amendment, I have decided I cannot support the current version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act," Lee said in a statement. "In addition to not repealing all of the Obamacare taxes, it doesn't go far enough in lowering premiums for middle class families; nor does it create enough free space from the most costly Obamacare regulations." 
 
 Moran issued this statement: "We should not put our stamp of approval on bad policy. Furthermore, if we leave the federal government in control of everyday healthcare decisions, it is more likely that our healthcare system will devolve into a single-payer system, which would require a massive federal spending increase. We must now start fresh with an open legislative process to develop innovative solutions that provide greater personal choice, protections for pre-existing conditions, increased access and lower overall costs for Kansans." 
 
 The senators released their statements just as eight other lawmakers, including most members of leadership, left the White House, where they ate dinner with the president. President Donald Trump has been largely disengaged from the process in the Senate, and his dinner guests were members already supportive of the measure. 
 
 The president responded to the latest development just after 10:15 p.m. ET: 
 
 McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, is seeking to give Trump what he wants. McConnell, who had worked to craft the bill that couldn't muster enough support, said he would seek a vote on a full repeal — the same version that passed both the House and the Senate in 2015 — "in the coming days." 
 
 "Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful," McConnell said in a statement. 
 
 While straight repeal passed the Senate in 2015, there was no possibility that it would go into effect because then-President Barack Obama vetoed the legislation. 
 
 Just last week, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told reporters that straight repeal wouldn't get the support of 50 Republicans. 
 
 McConnell had expected to hold a vote on the bill this week but was forced to delay it after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., underwent surgery to remove a blot clot above his left eye over the weekend. McCain is unable to return to Washington while he recovers, and his vote would have been crucial before the latest defections. 
 
 The Better Care Reconciliation Act has hit numerous roadblocks since it was unveiled more than a month ago. The first version fell short of the support needed to pass when at least 10 Republican senators came out against it, forcing McConnell back to the drawing board to try to win the support of moderate and conservative Republicans who opposed the measure for different reasons. 
 
 The second iteration, released last week, seemed to have more support. Only Paul and Collins opposed it at the outset, and others with concerns seemed open to ongoing discussions about the bill. 
 
 But the coalition of 50 began to crack Monday when Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told reporters that he was concerned about McConnell's reassurance to centrists that Medicaid cuts set to go into effect in 2025 would never be realized. 
 
 "I did find the story about Leader McConnell's comments about Medicaid reforms just too far in the future probably never being enacted — I found those pretty troubling," Johnson said. 
 
 The delay due to McCain's medical emergency didn't help matters, either, as some worried that it would allow more time for opponents to press their efforts. The only polls at measure about 15 percent support, according to public surveys, and Republican Senate offices have been home to nearly daily protests by activists opposed to the Republican plan. 
 
 Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Republicans should "start from scratch and work with Democrats" on a bill to fix problems with Obamacare. 
 
 "This second failure of Trumpcare is proof positive that the core of this bill is unworkable," Schumer said in a statement. 
 
 Still, Republican senators are promoting their own ideas on how to move forward. 
 
 McCain released a statement saying Republicans should forgo the current process, start over and work with Democrats. 
 
 "The Congress must now return to regular order, hold hearings, receive input from members of both parties, and heed the recommendations of our nation's governors so that we can produce a bill that finally provides Americans with access to quality and affordable health care," McCain said. 
 
 Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., tweeted a link to an opinion piece he wrote, promoting his idea of allowing each state to determine whether Obamacare — or another idea — works for the state. ||||| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled legislation that would replace Obamacare with a plan that scales back aid to the poor and kills a tax on the wealthy, but the bill’s fate was quickly thrown into question as several senators voiced skepticism. 
 
 Four conservative lawmakers said they could not support it in its current form, leaving Republicans short of the votes they need for passage. Democrats are united in opposition. 
 
 The 142-page proposal, worked out in secret by a group led Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, aims to deliver on a central campaign promise of President Donald Trump by rolling back former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, which has provided coverage to millions of Americans since it was passed in 2010. 
 
 Republicans view the law, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, as a costly government intrusion into the private marketplace. 
 
 Trump welcomed the bill but indicated that changes may be in store. 
 
 “I am very supportive of the Senate #Healthcarebill. Look forward to making it really special!” he wrote on Twitter. 
 
 Trump urged the House of Representatives to pass a similar bill in May, only to criticize it in private as “mean” once it passed. He said on Wednesday he wanted a health plan “with heart.” 
 
 Democrats immediately attacked the legislation as a callous giveaway to the rich that would leave millions without coverage. 
 
 “The president said the House bill was mean,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. “The Senate bill may be even meaner.” 
 
 Obama weighed in on Facebook. “If there’s a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family – this bill will do you harm,” he wrote. 
 
 The Senate’s most conservative members said the plan did not do enough to scale back the U.S. government’s role. 
 
 “This current bill does not repeal Obamacare. It does not keep our promises to the American people,” said Senator Rand Paul, who along with fellow Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Ron Johnson said they could not support it in its current form. 
 
 Shares of hospital companies and health insurers rose on the bill’s release, with the overall S&P; 500 healthcare sector closing up 1.1 percent at an all-time high. 
 
 “The initial proposal I think is more generous and more positive to the industry than expected,” said Jeff Jonas, a portfolio manager with Gabelli Funds. 
 
 SHARPER CUTS TO MEDICAID 
 
 Over months of often bitter debate, Republicans have struggled to craft legislation that lowers costs and reduces government involvement, while minimizing the inevitable disruptions that would come with a revamp of a sector that accounts for one-sixth of the world’s largest economy. 
 
 The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the House bill would kick 23 million Americans off their health plans, and the legislation is unpopular with the public. Fewer than one in 3 Americans supports it, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. 
 
 The Senate measure maintains much of the structure of the House bill, but differs in several key ways. 
 
 The Senate bill would phase out Obamacare’s expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor more gradually than the House version, waiting until after the next presidential election in 2020, but would enact deeper cuts starting in 2025. It would also allow states to add work requirements for some of the 70 million Americans who depend on the program. 
 
 The legislation also provides more generous tax subsidies than the House bill to help low-income people buy private insurance. 
 
 Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is surrounded by reporters as he walks to the Senate floor of the U.S. Capitol after unveiling a draft bill on healthcare in Washington, U.S. June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 
 
 Those subsidies would be based on income, rather than the age-based subsidies contained in the House bill - a “major improvement,” according to Republican Senator Susan Collins, a key moderate who has expressed concern over the bill’s impact on the poor. 
 
 The Senate legislation provides less money, however, for the opioid epidemic, allocating $2 billion in 2018, compared with $45 billion over 10 years in the House version. 
 
 Both versions would repeal the 3.8 percent net investment income tax on high earners, a key target for Republicans. 
 
 They also would repeal a penalty imposed on large employers that do not provide insurance to their workers, and remove the fine that Obamacare imposes on those who choose to go uninsured. 
 
 Policy experts said that would keep more young, healthy people out of the market and likely create a sicker patient pool. 
 
 The Senate bill would provide money to stabilize the individual insurance market, allotting $15 billion a year in 2018 and 2019 and $10 billion a year in 2020 and 2021. 
 
 It proposes defunding Planned Parenthood for a year, but abortion-related restrictions are less stringent than the House version because of uncertainty over whether they would comply with Senate rules. They could be included in another Senate bill. 
 
 McConnell said Democrats chose not to help frame the bill, which Republicans say would fix a collapsing health marketplace. 
 
 “Republicans believe we have a responsibility to act, and we are,” he said. 
 
 Democrats say they offered to help fix Obamacare but were rebuffed. 
 
 The bill’s real-world impact is not yet known, but the CBO is expected to provide an estimate early next week. 
 
 Slideshow (10 Images) 
 
 As lawmakers spoke about the legislation on the Senate floor, a protest erupted outside McConnell’s personal office, with many people in wheelchairs blocking a hallway, holding signs and chanting: “No cuts to Medicaid.” U.S. Capitol Police said 43 protesters were arrested and charged with obstruction. 
 
 Aside from the quartet of conservatives, none of the other 48 Republican senators appeared to reject the bill out of hand. But several said they would check with home-state constituents before taking a position. 
 
 “I expect there’s going to be a number of changes between now and the final vote,” said Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming.
– ObamaCare is "dead," President Trump declared after the House narrowly passed the American Health Care Act Thursday—but before he can sign the death warrant, a bigger battle looms in the Senate. Republican senators say they're going to craft their own ObamaCare replacement bill, and with the chamber divided 52-48, they're going to have to come up with something senators with views as different as Ted Cruz, Susan Collins, Rob Portman, and Rand Paul can all agree on. A roundup of coverage: Republican senators have made it clear that they plan to write their own legislation instead of rubber-stamping the House bill, and they say they're going to take as long as they need, Politico reports. "Any bill that has been posted less than 24 hours ... needs to be viewed with suspicion," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, while Sen. Bob Corker said he "turned the volume off some time ago" and has no idea "what the House is even passing." A big sticking point will be Medicaid expansion, with senators from states that expanded the program under ObamaCare fighting rollback efforts, the Hill reports. Nevada's Sen. Dean Heller and Ohio's Sen. Rob Portman are among those who've said they cannot support the House bill in its current form. The Washington Post reports that other wild cards include moderate GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Bill Cassidy, who've already introduced an alternative plan, and the conservative trio of Sens. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Mike Lee, who, like the House Freedom Caucus, favor an aggressive repeal of ObamaCare. Republicans plan to get their bill through the Senate through budget reconciliation to avoid a filibuster to pass it with a simple majority, though Democrats warn that parts of the House bill violate the budget rules involved, the New York Times reports. "This bill is going nowhere fast in the United States Senate," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, telling Republicans they "should refuse to follow their House colleagues over a cliff, reject repeal, and work with Democrats to improve our health care system in a bipartisan way." Some analysts predict that the Senate will be ready to vote on its bill by summertime, but senators have declined to provide a timeline. "When we get 51 senators, we'll vote," said Sen. John Cornyn. Reuters reports that unlike House lawmakers, senators will be waiting for health care legislation to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office before they vote on it. The Wall Street Journal looks at how the health care system would be affected in the unlikely event that the Senate passes the House bill as is. Winners would include health insurers and high earners, while hospitals, Medicaid users, and many people with pre-existing conditions would take a hit.