The American Health Care Act was not ready for prime time back in March at the time of its first "self-imposed deadline," Rep. Ron DeSantis, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said Friday.
However, House conservatives and Republican leaders are getting closer to a consensus on healthcare reform.
"If you remember the March 23 date where it blew up, it was not any deadline, a self-imposed deadline," the Florida Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" anchor Bill Hemmer.
"What has happened since then is members are talking to each other, and really the administration has done a good job."
Vice President Mike Pence, he continued, has been leading the work to determine how lawmakers can fulfill the promises made to the American people.
"For me, the core thing we have to do is deliver lower premiums and more choice on private insurance, because that's the reason why people dislike Obamacare," DeSantis said. "Their premiums have gone up and deductibles have gone up, [but] I think we can pass something relatively soon if we can get there."
The first time around though, lawmakers had promised to repeal Obamacare, but the AHCA left much of it in place, said DeSantis.
"We're trying to repeal as much of it as we can so we can reinvigorate private markets and bring down premiums for people," the congressman said. "I think every Republican in the House right now is already on record and voted to repeal Obamacare in its entirety, so I think we have to fulfill our promises to the voters."
In other matters, DeSantis has sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to determine the status of chemical weapons in Syria.
The American people had been told by Obama administration officials, including ex-national security adviser Susan Rice, that chemical weapons had been removed from Syria before Obama left office, said DeSantis, but that's not the case.
"We were given assurances that Assad had moved on from the chemical weapons and it was in the clear," DeSantis said. "We have some combat advisors of our own in the region. I think it's important to know what potential threats they face."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.