Gingrich: Tackle Infrastructure, Tax Reform Before Healthcare

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday he agrees that work should continue on repealing and replacing Obamacare, but first, he'd start instead with infrastructure and tax reform measures.

"I wouldn't set any deadlines, and I wouldn't try to meet the Senate reconciliation rules, because it makes the bill impossible to write," Gingrich told Fox News' "Happening Now" program. "The first thing I would do, frankly, is I would start with an infrastructure bill which allows every member of the House and Senate to be involved in a practical, nonpartisan effort to rebuild jobs."

After that, Gingrich said he'd write a tax cut bill, which would allow Democrats to help, and then third, he'd bring back a healthcare bill that is much different than the American Health Care Act.

"I think people want to know what is going to happen to them, what's going to happen to their healthcare, what's going to happen to their pocketbook," said Gingrich. "Until you can explain that and win the argument back home, you are not in a position to try to pass something up here."

Gingrich said he's talked to the administration about his ideas, and believes there is "considerable support."

"The president had a great event last night. He had 67 senators from both parties," said Gingrich. "They had a good evening together. I think seeing the president in that kind of a setting takes out a lot of the partisanship. He is a natural salesman; he is a natural negotiator. Give him time, and he will get a great reform infrastructure bill that will get us 40 percent or 50 percent more infrastructure per dollar than the current system. Give him time and he will get a great tax cut bill that will create jobs."

After that, Trump will be in a strong position to walk through a bipartisan health bill that will replace Obamacare "with a dramatically better future," Gingrich said.

The former speaker also ridiculed numbers presented by the Congressional Budget Office concerning losses through the first healthcare bill, calling the CBO "totally phoney" and its numbers "totally fake."

"The Senate reconciliation rules are absurd," said Gingrich. "To design a bill, which met both a fake score and absurd rule, it's just a bad strategy. "

• Trump: Healthcare Deal Will Happen 'Very Quickly'
• Trump FDA Nominee Wants Lower Drug Costs With More Generics