Conservatives Balk At Trump’s Calls To Be ‘flexible’ On Abortion Coverage In Health Care Talks

President Donald Trump stunned conservative Republicans Tuesday when he directed them to be “flexible” on abortion coverage issues in ongoing health care talks — a nonstarter in the negotiations for hard-liners and scores of other GOP lawmakers.

"You have to be a little flexible on Hyde, you know that. You gotta be a little flexible. You gotta work something … we're all big fans of everything. But you have to have flexibility,” Trump told House Republicans during remarks at the GOP conference’s daylong policy meeting Tuesday.

He was referring to the Hyde amendment, the longstanding statute barring federal funding for abortions. It has been a sticking point in discussions around compromise legislation that would revive enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that were allowed to expire at the end of last year, causing premiums to skyrocket. Being “flexible” on Hyde and giving money “directly” to people for health insurance would allow Republicans to “take away” the issue of health care from Democrats, Trump asserted at the House GOP meeting.

The president’s remarks shocked conservatives in the audience at the Kennedy Center, recently renamed for Trump by a board he appointed, though the memorial to former President John F. Kennedy hasn’t been renamed by Congress.

“I almost fell out of my chair,” said one House Republican in attendance, granted anonymity to share candid remarks.

Asked for his reaction on Capitol Hill, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla), a lead proponent of Hyde protections, replied: “I'm not flexible on the value of every child's life. Children are valuable, and so I'd have to get up to the context of what he meant by that.”

Anti-abortion groups have been intensely vocal, threatening Republicans to not back any effort to leave out Hyde protections in a health care deal. One influential anti-abortion group, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, was quick to respond to Trump’s comments Tuesday, pointing out a commitment the president made last year to end the use of taxpayer dollars to fund elective abortion.

“President Trump and congressional Republicans must follow through, not abandon, this commitment,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president, said in a statement Tuesday.

Many Republicans are open to hearing about Trump’s health care ideas, especially as they’re getting hammered by Democrats after letting the tax credits lapse on Dec. 31. But, despite Trump’s public cajoling, they remain less amenable to shifting their red lines around abortion coverage, continuing to largely demand any health care deal needs to include language that would ban federal funding for abortion, full-stop.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Tuesday morning that navigating the Hyde issue is “probably the most challenging part of this.” A bipartisan group of senators met as recently as Monday evening to continue conversations about pairing a subsidy extension with policy changes palatable to members on both sides of the aisle.

House GOP leadership is planning a procedural vote Wednesday on House Democrats’ legislation to extend the Obamacare subsidies for three years. The Democratic discharge petition effort garnered the support of several Republican centrists, allowing it to move to the floor against Speaker Mike Johnson's wishes. The bill is expected to be put up for a final vote Thursday.

One senior House Republican aide, granted anonymity to speak freely, noted: "Everything depends on details, but Hyde is nonnegotiable for most conservatives.” And while that person didn’t rule out a potential “creative solution” on the matter, “caving on Hyde is not an option.”

Conservative Republicans have privately been wary of Trump’s position on the abortion coverage matter for weeks now. A plan for a two-year ACA extension that top White House officials briefed GOP leaders on late last year didn’t include any Hyde amendment protections.

Instead, the floated plan, which was quickly killed off, was completely silent on the matter in a way that enraged scores of Republicans, many of whom couldn’t believe the administration would come up with a plan that didn’t have the abortion language.

Some GOP moderates, however, see Trump’s comments as deeply helpful — and the key to unlocking any future health care deal in the coming weeks, including new funding to cover some of the lapsed Obamacare subsidies.

“It’s a positive step,” said one moderate House Republican, granted anonymity to speak candidly.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.