Legislative Compromises that Trump and GOP Must Make Now

Here are four things to know about the meeting and the Senate's progress on healthcare reform.

Senate Republican leaders are still searching for consensus on a health care bill that doesn't yet exist while the legislative window to act begins to close and pressure from the White House to pass a measure continues to grow.

McConnell initiated a Senate process known as Rule 14, which allows a bill to avoid committees and be put directly on the floor for a vote.

"We have to do it before we get out of here in August", Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas told Politico. "We've had seven years to talk about health care", he said.

"I am hopeful that they can do so much more", he said.

Senate Republicans have been slowly piecing together health care legislation, but are tamping down expectations that they will have a bill anytime soon. Many Republicans, including top aides working on the GOP health plan, said they need to vote on health care and move on by early July, even if that means voting on a bill that fails. Those that did expand their Medicaid population don't want to see their expansion population lose coverage, and those that did not expand, believe they are entitled to an additional financial benefit so they are not at a disadvantage as compared to the expansion states.

Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, a member of the Republican leadership team, said senators are discussing a rollback of Obamacare's expansion of the Medicaid program for low-income Americans, but not as abruptly as the House bill, H.R. 1628.

Whatever the White House's efforts to push ahead with policy plans, there will be a spotlight on testimony by James Comey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation director fired by Trump last month, to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. "The last statewide insurer in the great state of OH is leaving", Trump said.

US President Donald Trump denies any collusion with Russian Federation, and has called the investigation a "witch hunt".

The Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to oversee its probe into the Russian Federation issue and several congressional panels are also investigating the matter.

That withdrawal follows similar exits across the Midwest in recent weeks, as insurers blame both the 2010 Affordable Care Act and Mr. Trump's handling of the law.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price's speech came as Trump declared from Washington that he's sure the Senate will get a health care bill "across the finish line" this summer. Cassidy had said the Senate's bill must pass the "Jimmy Kimmel test" to ensure families can afford health care for children with pre-existing health conditions.

Senators say they also face pressure to move forward as several insurers have pulled out of the ACA marketplaces for next year - most recently in OH, where Anthem's decision to withdraw from the Obamacare exchange likely leaves 20 counties without an insurance provider selling plans for 2018. "We're not even going to have a hearing on a bill that impacts one-sixth of our economy", McCaskill charged.

"It's unlikely we will get a deal", Republican Sen.

Congress might then turn its focus to overhauling the tax code in September. While the administration would prefer that such changes not add to the national debt, Marc Short, Trump's top aide on Capitol Hill, told reporters on Monday that the top priority would be cutting taxes.The Trump administration has outlined a broad plan that would cut tax rates for businesses and streamline the tax system for individuals.

If the parliamentarian rules against them, the GOP will revert to their back up plan, which involves working within the current Obamacare subsidy structure, exactly how they would make Obamacare subsidies less costly remains unclear. "What Republicans are attempting to do to the health care system is the legislative equivalent of a mugging".

"We need to bring this to an end and move to taxes", said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.