Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — A key moderate Republican senator said she is “very disappointed” in President Donald Trump’s decision to end health care subsidies to low- and middle-income Americans under Obamacare.
GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on This Week Sunday. “The debate in Washington has been whether or not to repeal the Affordable Care Act in the future. What the president is doing is affecting people’s access and the cost of health care right now.”
Collins said Congress needs to “step in” to reform health care in a more comprehensive way.
“I don’t agree with his decisions on the subsidies that help low-income people afford their deductibles and copays, and I don’t agree with his executive order,” Collins said, referring to an executive order Thursday that would allow cheaper policies that offer fewer benefits.
Stephanopoulos also asked the Maine congresswoman about former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s speech at the conservative Values Voter Summit on Saturday, where he declared “war” on the “GOP establishment.”
Collins said Bannon’s comments are “not helpful or appropriate.”
“Mr. Bannon has the right to support whomever he wants to support. But I think his rhetoric is exactly what the American people are tired of,” Collins said. “They don’t want this hyperpartisanship. They want us to work together. And they want us to get things done.”
“They want us to work across the aisle. They want us to work with the president. And Mr. Bannon’s over-the-top rhetoric is not helpful,” she added.
Collins announced Friday that she has decided not to run for governor of her state because she believes she can do more for her state by staying in Washington.
“My voice and vote really matter in Washington right now. The Senate is closely divided, and I am able to make a difference,” she said on Friday.
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