President Donald Trump signaled confidence in Mitch McConnell as Senate Majority Leader in Washington.
“I do. I mean, look, I’ve dealt with Mitch for a long time,” Trump said in an interview with Fox and Friends on Thursday.
But the president advised McConnell that Senate Republicans would have to get rid of the “horrible” filibuster rule because it would be impossible to pass legislation otherwise.
“There are 270 bills right now sitting before the Senate, and you’re not going to get it approved because you’re not going to get eight Democrats,” Trump said.
Trump said that he liked everyone in Congress including McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“Look, I really like all of these people. I think they’re terrific people,” he said.
He insisted that Republicans had the votes to replace Obamacare, but couldn’t vote on it in time because Senator Thad Cochran was recovering from a urological issue in Mississippi. The 50 vote reconciliation period for passing Obamacare ends on Friday.
“In the meantime, I’m going to start negotiating with Democrats, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.