President Trump defiantly said that packed town halls for GOP lawmakers are not the people being represented by the lawmakers.
“They are not the Republican people that our representatives are representing,” Trump said during his first solo press conference as president.
Some Republicans have faced angry town halls, with people particularly questioning about the fate of Obamacare.
Trump also touched on the actions that his administration is taking to repeal the healthcare law.
On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order demanding federal agencies waive the financial burden on people from the healthcare law. The Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday said it is no longer going to reject tax forms that don’t have the box checked to attest the taxpayer has health insurance. Every tax form has a box about insurance coverage that taxpayers must check, or they have to send in the individual mandate penalty or a form claiming an exemption.
The administration, also on Wednesday, announced a proposed rule that would shorten the open enrollment period for 2018 by a month and a half, making it from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. It also would clamp down on special enrollment periods that allow people to sign up for Obamacare year-round. Insurers have complained that too many people use the special periods to sign up when they get sick and then they leave.
