White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday said President Donald Trump is committed to House Republicans' plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, but also said the American Health Care Act is not "the only way forward."
"The president's fully committed to this plan," Spicer told reporters. "You saw (HHS) Secretary (Tom) Price and (OMB) Director (Mick) Mulvaney out discussing that this weekend.
"Look, Director Mulvaney made it very clear this weekend as well if, through the process, we can find some ideas that make this a stronger, more patient-centric piece of legislation that will ultimately benefit Americans, we'll do it.
"We're not saying this is the only way forward. As it works its way through the House, and then ultimately through the Senate, if there are ways that we can enhance the bill through the legislative process, we're willing to do that," Spicer said.
Meanwhile, Speaker Paul Ryan's message to conservatives' pushback has been consistent — this is our plan.
"This is an all-hands-on-deck, because you know what? We all ran on repealing and replacing Obamacare," Ryan said last week.
And "doing big things is never easy, but we have made a promise, and we're going to keep that promise," Ryan said, also last week. "That is exactly what this bill does."
Trump, too, has sent mixed message regarding AHCA on Monday, first tweeting that Republicans are coming "to save the day" and then telling victims of Obamacare that Republicans are putting themselves in a very bad position over repealing the ACA.