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Thenew Washington Post-ABC News poll is bad for President Trump, but one number is raising some eyebrows when it comes to Democrats.

It asked whether people thought the Democratic Party stands for something or just stands against Trump, and people chose the latter by a 52-to-37 margin. So thatis a majority of registered voters who think the opposition party isn't defined by anything except opposition that the Democratic Party has no real message.

This isn't out of nowhere. Rep. Joseph Crowley (N.Y.), the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, seemed to confirm the majority's belief in an Associated Press story that just happened to popthe same morning the Post-ABC poll did. That message is being worked on, the congressman said. We're doing everything we can to simplify it, but at the same time provide the meat behind it as well. So that's coming together now.

Thenthere are those special-election losses especially that backbreaker in Georgia, in which there was some Bernie Sanders-related consternation about whether Jon Ossoff was progressive enough.

It's a bit of a mess. And it's a mess that's complicated by the fact that Democrats are really good at being disorganized and also don't really have a leader to speak of at the moment. But here's what else we can say: It probably doesn't matter.

Republicans ran for years on a message of Obama is bad and undo what Obama did and it worked out pretty well for them in the 2010 and 2014 midterms. Charlie Cook had this prescient quote in Rolling Stone in March 2010, when Republicans were actually in a pretty similar spot to where Democrats are right now and people were wonderingwhat the message was:

Does the Republican Party lack a clear leader? Absolutely. Do they lack a positive message? Of course. Do their demographics suck? Yeah, Cook said. But in a midterm election, none of that matters. Because midterm elections are a referendum on the party in power. And to throw one side out, you've got to throw the other side back in.

You could literally write that first part about Democrats word for word.

Republicans would eventually settle upon aContract with America-esque plan, labeled the Pledge to America, in September 2010.It was a minor story at the time, and was quickly forgotten even after Republicans took the House that year.

Fast-forward to the 2014 election cycle, and Democrats had grown fond of labeling the GOP obstructionistsand the Party of No opposing President Barack Obama out of spite, they argued. They seized upon then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) statement that his top political goal was to make Obama a one-term president. And it was a message that seemed to take; a July 2013 CBS News poll asked whether Republicans' opposition to Obama was driven more by policy disagreements or to stop Democrats from gaining a political advantage. People said the GOP was more about stopping Obama than policy by a 64-to-28 margin. For Democrats, it was a pretty even split.

Did the GOP wind up with a hugely novel platform ahead of the 2014 election in which they wiped the floor with the Democrats? Of course not. Did the GOP ever settle on an Obamacare replacement to run on proactively? Nope, and when they finally won control of Congress and the presidency in November 2016, they still didn't have their alternative ironed out. This was the thing they ran on for seven years, and they never had to figure out what they were running on besides repeal.

So why does this keep coming up? Part of the reason is that people within the party truly care about policy and about its direction. And there will always be thosepushing for the party to move more in the direction of Sanders (I-Vt.) or perhaps to moderate on certain things to try to appeal to rural voters.

There are also politicians who see a chance to make a name for themselves this way. It just sounds good to say, Our party needs to stand for something! Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) was big on telling the GOP it couldn't just be the Party of No. Bobby Jindal was going to be the ideas candidate in a party that apparently had none. And then the GOP nominated Donald Trump, the guy who was the most in-your-face, anti-Obama candidate on the debate stage the guy who lacked any real coherent ideology or ideas of his own.

The point is that we've been here before. Do Democrats need to figure out who they are and what they stand for? Many in the party would say yes. And from a good-government standpoint, it's nice to tell people where you stand and what your priorities are. But Democrats probably don't need to be anything more than the anti-Trump party right now not really. The 2018 election will largely be a referendum on Trump, and right now Americans say they prefer a Democratic Congress to a Republican one by between 5 and 10 points.

That's pretty decent shape to be in for a party with no ethos.

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A majority says the Democratic Party stands for nothing except the only thing that matters in 2018 - Washington Post

Ben Ray Lujn was a relatively new congressman, barely finding his way through the halls of the Capitol, when his mom called with an urgent message from home.

The llamas, she told him, had broken out of their pen again.

From nearly 2,000 miles away, Lujn helped her figure out how to corral the animals, which were supposed to be guarding the familys sheep herd in New Mexico.

Its a skill that could serve him well in his current job, in which he will be expected to play a leading role in guiding Democrats as they try to win the House majority in 2018.

Something that I learned just around here, growing up on this small farm, is that every job mattered, and whatever job you were asked to do or tasked with, you had to do it, and you had to do it right, said Rep. Lujn, 45, sitting beneath a towering cottonwood at his familys generations-old farm.

As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Lujn has a difficult, often thankless, job at a time when almost every Democrat seems to have an opinion about what the party needs to win in the age of President Trump.

Energetic anti-Trump groups are hammering the campaign committee for not doing enough to recruit and promote fresh candidates, portraying party leaders as tone-deaf to Trumps populist appeal.

At the same time, more moderate forces are pushing Democrats to the center, trying to keep the party from drifting too far left into the Bernie Sanders wing.

It falls largely to Lujn to shepherd the campaign arm of the fracturing party, united mainly by opposition to Trump and by a desire to win back the House majority. Lujn must help recruit dozens of candidates and persuade deep-pocketed donors to shell out more than $200 million for the midterm election.

Lisa Mascaro / Los Angeles Times

As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Ben Ray Lujn has a difficult, often thankless, job.

As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Ben Ray Lujn has a difficult, often thankless, job. (Lisa Mascaro / Los Angeles Times)

This is a moment of opportunity and a moment of truth for Ben Ray Lujn, said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, an outside group promoting progressive candidates.

Does he fill the map with bold, inspiring economic populists who can win in red and purple districts? Or does he go the traditional route of finding milquetoast candidates or self-funding candidates who lose cycle after cycle? Thats what a lot of people are looking at.

After losses in four special elections this spring, many Democrats blamed party leaders for failing to pick up a single House seat.

But Lujn held firm, rejecting pressure to spend more money in long-shot races. Although the campaign committee poured $6 million into suburban Atlanta, where Democrat Jon Ossoff appeared to have the best chance to pick up a traditionally Republican seat, it declined to go big in deep-red districts in Kansas, Montana or South Carolina. Ossoff still lost, but the campaign committee learned valuable lessons and Lujn saved resources for what he believes are more promising battles to come.

It was an unexpectedly hard-line approach from the typically good-natured Lujn, who is preparing to go on the offense next year in 80 Republican-held battleground districts, particularly those Trump lost to Hillary Clinton or only narrowly won. Colleagues made note of his resolve.

The chairmans responsibility is to look at it in a coldblooded, strategic way to look at what we need for 218 to win the majority, said Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), co-chairman of the House Democrats Policy and Communications Committee. That always creates some disappointment for people.

Laid-back and bluejean casual, Lujn seemed like an odd choice when he was first tapped for the job. He was pulled from relative obscurity as a back-bench, four-term congressman from a small, poor state, hardly seen as a power player in Washington.

But as the first Latino to run the committee and the first Westerner in years Lujn represents an aspirational face of the party, one that is more energetic, youthful and rural.

On his familys 4-acre farm nestled among tribal lands in the Nambe valley the street is named for his grandparents Lujn explains his system for cooking bite-size chicharrones snacks on a New Mexican disco a wok-like pan originally made from a tractor disc on the outdoor grill.

Later he shows off rows of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers growing in a greenhouse he built on weekend trips home.

His father, the long-serving speaker of the state House, encouraged him to pursue politics, which he did only after a circuitous route through college, finally graduating later in his 20s after working night shifts as a blackjack dealer at a nearby tribal casino.

You learn how to visit with people, carry on a conversation, he said about his time playing cards. My political opponents tried attacking me for having those jobs. This paid the bills. If youre going to attack me doing that, then you clearly dont understand the constituents youre fighting to represent.

His predecessors at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee were usually hard-charging Washingtonians think Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel or former New York Rep. Steve Israel.

But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saw in Lujn a well-liked and charismatic newcomer when she asked him to take the job after the 2014 midterm election losses.

Lujn accepted and quickly set out to expand the committees team. He stacked it with lawmakers newer to Congress, naming vice chairpersons from regions across the country. He also worked to improve relations with minority groups in the House, particularly the Congressional Black Caucus, which often feels shortchanged in campaigns.

His first big challenge, the 2016 election, became a brighter spot on a dismal night for Democrats, with six House seats netted. But disappointed Democrats agitated for House leadership changes after Trumps win.

When Lujn sought election as chairman later that year the job would no longer be appointed by Pelosi, as she heeded demands to loosen her grip he fended off a potential challenger and won unopposed.

This year he was hit with an ethics review after a conservative watchdog group filed a complaint over his use of photos from a Democratic sit-in on the House floor for his ownreelection fundraising, a potential violation of House rules.

Observers say Lujn has grown into the job, an assessment he readily admits.

A core debate among House Democrats is whether their focus should be on reaching white, working-class Trump Democrats who have broken away from the party, or on investing more heavily in outreach to the African American, Latino and other electoral groups sometimes taken for granted.

Democrats need 24 seats to pick up the majority, about as many as a party historically wins during midterm elections when it does not control the White House.

The committee is trying new strategies to tap into unprecedented grass-roots enthusiasm, including recruiting more locals for campaign jobs rather than parachuting in experts from Washington, believing the new faces will provide on-the-ground expertise and build a deep bench of new leaders.

It has also moved its entire Western state operation to Southern California to aggressively target Republican-held House seats in Orange County.

We need to do a better job in understanding that were talking about real people, Lujn said. And be able to connect with those people all across the country, like the ones I represent and the family I grew up in.

Lujn makes no secret that the committee is willing to take sides in primary battles, a position that angers many Democrats.

Pelosi, as party leader in the House, still plays a mighty role, particularly as fundraiser in chief, and Lujn must toggle between his allegiance to the San Francisco Democrat and the reality that some in the party would prefer new leadership.

No matter what you do, somebodys going to be upset, especially if you have high expectations and we do have high expectations, said Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus political action committee.

Meeks says he appreciates Lujns more open, bottom-up approach at the campaign committee, as opposed to someone just saying, This is what were doing.

We have honest, open, tough conversations, he said. He can deal with it.

As the hot afternoon sun begins to relent on his farm, Lujn walks across the property to the pen with his last llama, Tony. The sheep have died or been sold off and the other llama sent to a new home, but he has plans to resume the family traditions once he can repair the fences to protect from predators. He calls the farm work therapy.

Lujn recalls once when he couldnt get close enough to collar the llamas after another escape. He simply parked his trailer up the road, filled the bed with feed, unfolded his lawn chair nearby, sat down and waited.

Eventually, the llamas climbed in and he took them home.

Its another lesson from the farm this one in patience that could come in handy for Democrats in 2018.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

@LisaMascaro

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Is this small-town congressman from New Mexico tough enough to win Democrats the House majority? - Los Angeles Times

Since losing the White House last year, a growing number of Democrats in Congress have embraced the idea of universal, single-payer health care, setting up an inevitable confrontation between the liberal and centrist wings of the party over its future.

Obamacare Repeal-Only Effort Draws Republican Opposition

Emboldened by Hillary Clintons 2016 defeat, and the Republican effort to dismantle former President Barack Obamas signature health-care law, progressive lawmakers and activists are trying to move single payer into the party mainstream. There are signs the idea is winning traction: For the first time ever, a majority of House Democrats have signed up to support Medicare for all single-payer legislation, a threshold crossed in the aftermath of the presidential election. A number of influential Senate Democrats have also expressed support for single payer in the midst of the current Republican health-care push, which is now in doubt as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushes for an Obamacare repeal vote.

If youre serious about real health-care reform, it has got to be on the agenda, and I would hope that as many Democrats as possible support it, Senator Bernie Sanders said in a recent interview after a rally against the GOP health-care bill in Kentucky, where he promised that as soon as we defeat this terrible Republican proposal, he would introduce his own Medicare-for-all legislation. Its going to be a tough fight, Sanders said, but it is a fight that has to be waged, because it is the only rational solution to the health-care crisis that we face.

Sanders, the most popular figure on the American left, has used his higher post-election profile to advocate for single payer, while progressive firebrand Senator Elizabeth Warren has called single payer the next step for the party. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has publicly said that we should have Medicare for all. Senator Kamala Harris, frequently buzzed about as a rising star in the party, recently told a crowd in her home state of California that as a concept, Im completely in support of single payer, though she added the caveat: but weve got to work out the details, and the details matter on that.

Democrats are far from united over single payer, however. For the moment at least, Democratic congressional leaders are reluctant to endorse single-payer legislation. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has been non-committal when pressed by reporters on single payer. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has not signed onto the House Medicare-for-all bill that has gained in popularity, though she has expressed support for the concept, and argued that states could act as laboratories for single payer. And talk of single-payer in the midst of the current congressional health-care fight has highlighted divides within the party.

Single payer is a huge distraction from the enormously important task that Democrats have in front of them, which is defending Obamacare, said Matt Bennett of the center-left think tank Third Way. And assuming that Republicans dont completely blow up the system, theres a lot that needs to be done to shore it up. I think the fact that Pelosi and Schumer have stayed on the sidelines [over single-payer] is very telling. That might be a signal that leadership does not want to head in this direction.

Its not even clear how much Democrats who have embraced single payer would agree on if the policy debate moved from abstract discussion to nitty-gritty details. Locked out of power in Washington, Democrats have no ability to implement single payer. That gives liberal lawmakers the freedom to talk up the idea of government-administered, taxpayer-funded health insurance that would provide universal coverage, without necessarily needing to know exactly how they would achieve it.

Democrats are essentially using single payer as an easy shorthand to convey that they want a health-care system that works better and costs people less, said Sherry Glied, a former health-policy adviser to the George H. W. Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations. But just invoking the concept on its own doesnt say much about policy specifics. To some extent, this is the flip-side of what Republicans did by advocating for repeal and replace [of the Affordable Care Act] when Obama was president. For Democrats, single payer may even be a more attractive proposition when theres a Republican president since they dont have to deal with the hard trade-offs that would be at stake if a bill could actually pass.

The legislation that a majority of House Democrats have signed onto, sponsored by Democratic Representative John Conyers, proposes an expansion of the federally-administered Medicare insurance program to all Americans funded in part through existing government revenue and an increase in taxes on the top five percent of earners. The text only runs 30 pages long.

The legislation Sanders plans to introduce is expected to be significantly more detailed. Exactly what it calls for, and which Democrats sign on, will shed light on how widespread support for single payer is among Senate Democrats, and where liberal lawmakers agree and disagree.

Part of the appeal of single payer among liberal lawmakers is that many Democrats want to advance a health-policy agenda that goes beyond defending the ACA, a law that congressional Republicans have relentlessly attacked for nearly a decade, and which even Democrats agree has its flaws. Now that former President Obama is out of the White House, the party is less duty bound to act as though Obamacare is as good as it gets.

Theres not much political mileage in it for us to say were for the ACA when its become the whipping post for the Republican Party, Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said in an interview. We [will] defend the ACA pragmatically as the right foundation upon which to build, but we can define the goal as health care that will include all Americans.

Advocating universal health-insurance coverage also has the advantage of creating a stark contrast to the legislation Republicans in Congress have spent months attempting to enact, which non-partisan analysts have estimated would leave millions of Americans without health insurance.

Its not just about single payer, its about inclusionary politics, Democratic Representative Peter Welch said in an interview. Its about a government that has policies that are going to work for everyone, not just a select few. Thats really the heart of the message. Its broader than just health care.

The fact that Sanders gave Clinton a serious challenge while running on a platform that advocated Medicare for all has also created momentum. The Vermont senators campaign created visibility for the issue, and Clintons defeat in the general election has emboldened the partys progressive wing to argue even more strongly that a centrist, incrementalist approach to Democratic politics is not the answer as the party seeks to rebuild.

Bernie Sanderss candidacy helped catapult single payer back to prominence in the Democratic Party. He is the only serious contender for the presidential nomination to back single-payer in the past quarter century, said Jonathan Oberlander, a professor of social medicine and health policy and management at the University of North California-Chapel Hill.

But even Sanders, who has been rallying opposition to the Republican health-care plan since President Trump took office, concedes the Democratic party hasnt completely warmed to the idea of single payer.

Asked if single payer will be part of a policy platform that Democratic congressional leaders are putting together, Sanders said: "I would like it to be in it, do I think it will be in it? Probably not. I think it's too radical [in the view of Democratic leadership] at this moment. A Democratic leadership aide said the package will be an economic agenda that focuses on job creation, growth and wages, and that Democrats must continue to focus on defeating Republican efforts to repeal the ACA as the top health-care priority.

The Vermont senator added: I think that clearly the momentum is with us. I think we will have far more Democrats on board with single payer when I introduce it now than I have in the past we'll see where leadership goes." The last time Sanders introduced his Medicare for all legislation was in 2013. At that time, there were no co-sponsors.

As Democrats in Congress hold out the possibility of single payer, there is evidence that public opinion has moved in favor of such a system among Democratic voters. A majority of Democrats, at 52 percent, support the idea of providing health coverage through a single, national insurance program run by the government, according to a June poll from the Pew Research Center. The poll found that the percentage of Democrats who support that idea had grown by 19 percentage points since 2014. Pew also reported that the share of Americans who say health coverage is a government responsibility remains at its highest level in nearly a decade.

If Democrats controlled Congress, and the presidency, there would still be challenges to any kind of single-payer push, not least among them the question of how expensive it would be. Attempts to implement single payer in California and Vermont, liberal stronghold states, have run aground amid contentious debates over the cost required for implementation.

Whether single payer wins wider buy-in within the ranks of the Democratic Party, and its leadership, may hinge in part on how the debate over implementing it unfolds. Polling suggests that support for single payer drops when people are told it could lead to elevated government spending, and Republicans are already going on the attack against Democrats over single payer, attempting to brand it as exorbitantly expensive.

For now, Democrats who support single payer will keep making the case for the idea in the hopes of convincing party leadership, and whoever runs for the White House in 2020 that its a winning issue. Democratic Representative Ro Khanna suggested in a recent interview that future candidates may be able to argue that while Trump has made ambitious health-care promiseslike his vow of insurance for everybodyonly Democrats, running on single payer, will be able to deliver on the pledge of universal coverage.

What the first person who runs in 2020 ought to say to Donald Trump is ...you promised the American people more benefits, less costs, more coverage, and you didnt deliver. You know as well as we know that the answer is single payer. So, why are you not supporting Medicare for all?, Khanna said in an interview. Thats a great attack, and a great message, he added. My view is that this is really going to become the platform of the Democratic Party.

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Why So Many Democrats Are Embracing Single-Payer Health Care - The Atlantic

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would let Obamacare "fail" in the aftermath of his party's botched efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

"I think we're probably in that position where we'll let Obamacare fail," Trump said at the White House. "We're not going to own it. I'm not going to own it. I can tell you, the Republicans are not going to own it."

Once Obamacare collapses, Trump said Democrats would join Republicans so Congress would be able to come up with new plan, really good for people.

Trump wouldn't go so far as to call Republicans who opposed the Senate repeal and replace efforts "disloyal," but he did say he was "very surprised" when two GOP senators yanked their support for the health care bill on Monday night, effectively killing it.

"The way I look at it is in (2018), we're going to have to get some more people elected...that are Republican," Trump said.

The president repeatedly said he was "very disappointed" with the health care defeat during a brief media availability with reporters Tuesday. "I am disappointed because for so many years I've been hearing repeal, replace," he said.

But Trump signaled that he remains ready to act, telling reporters that he's sitting in the Oval Office, "pen in hand, waiting to sign something."

Pointing the finger at Democrats was no new tactic for the president, who lashed out at "all of the Democrats and a few Republicans" earlier Tuesday morning. "We will return!" he promised in a tweet after the legislation was effectively killed.

As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned! Trump tweeted.

We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return! Trump wrote.

"With only a very small majority, the Republicans in the House & Senate need more victories next year since Dems totally obstruct, no votes!" he added.

Vice President Mike Pence echoed the president's tweets Tuesday morning during remarks at the National Retail Federation summit, issuing a stern warning to Congress to "step up" while declaring "inaction is not an option."

"Congress needs to do their job, and Congress needs to do their job now," Pence said, urging Congress to move forward with a straight repeal of Obamacare something they already voted to do in 2015.

"And as the president said with his inexhaustible optimism and determination, stay tuned. We will return," Pence added.

White House vows of a health care comeback began the morning after two more Republican senators said they would not support their partys bill, leaving the GOP short of a majority and forcing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to pull the plug on the measure.

Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Mike Lee of Utah set the chain of events in motion Monday night in a surprise move when they announced on Twitter that they both would oppose the current bill, which was released just last week.

Moran and Lee followed two other Republican senators who had already said they wouldn't back the plan: Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine.

With Senate Democrats united against the bill, the Senate Republicans could afford to lose only two of their own members support for the proposal.

A senior administration official told NBC News on Tuesday that the White House wasnt given a heads up before Lee and Moran announced they were pulling their support for the bill.

Moran and Lee tweeted their opposition just after Trump was finishing dinner at the White House with Republican lawmakers whom he thought could help him get the bill across the finish line.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who was at the dinner Monday night, said on Fox News Channel Tuesday morning that he and his fellow attendees also did not know at that time that their colleagues Moran and Lee were coming out against the measure. Moran and Lee were not at the dinner.

In another tweet Tuesday morning, Trump repeated his desire to see Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell change Senate rules to allow legislation to advance with just a simple majority vote, instead of the 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority currently required.

"The Senate must go to a 51 vote majority instead of current 60 votes. Even parts of full Repeal need 60. 8 Dems control Senate. Crazy!" the president tweeted.

The health care bill that didn't advance in the Senate Monday night, however, only needed 51 votes to pass, because it was being considered under a budget reconciliation process. That process would have allowed the bill to be pushed through with just a simple majority.

McConnell and other Republican senators have said previously they would not favor lowering the threshold for legislative votes. Republicans did change Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees earlier this year so they could approve Trump's nominee, Neil Gorsuch, along party lines.

Meanwhile, a senior administration official admitted Tuesday that Trump had known the Senate health care bill was in perilous condition by Monday evening, adding that the White House had been floating a new plan to repeal Obamacare now and replace it later for quite some time.

On Monday night, McConnell, after acknowledging he didnt have the votes for the measure after Lee and Moran bailed out, echoed that message, saying the Senate would instead vote on a full repeal of Obamacare, with two years before the repeal goes into effect to allow time to create a new system.

That new plan faces difficult odds. Many moderate Republican senators have already come out against repeal without an immediate replacement.

Trump quickly and publicly threw his support behind the new strategy, tweeting late Monday that Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate.

Dems will join in! he added in the tweet.

Trump has no public events scheduled Tuesday.

The setbacks Monday night were just the latest in a long line of roadblocks the GOP proposal has encountered since it was unveiled more than a month ago.

The first version of the bill fell short of the support needed when at least 10 Republican senators came out against it, forcing McConnell back to the drawing board to try to win the backing of additional moderate and conservative Republicans who had opposed the measure for different reasons.

Meanwhile, despite the latest health care defeat, some in the White House are vowing to forge ahead on another presidential priority: tax reform.

One senior administration source tells NBC News the plan is "going forward at full speed."

Trump's spirit dampened by disappointment over health care wasn't diminished when it came to other items on his agenda. He promised a "win" on taxes and infrastructure, two key legislative items the administration has said they'll prioritize this year.

The official said the bill's overall architecture would be in place by August recess, with full details and language when Congress returns in September followed by a full court legislative press until November. Congressional sources confirm this timeline, but say the biggest question is how specific they want to get ahead of the August recess.

Congressional leaders, including McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, have been meeting regularly with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn but the group has several outstanding issues such as how to pay for corporate tax cuts left to address.

Kristen Welker and Ali Vitali reported from Washington and Adam Edelman reported from New York.

Original post:
Trump: 'Let Obamacare FailI'm Not Going to Own It' - NBCNews.com

Rep. Tony Crdenas, the House Democrats' caucus leadership representative, said he and his successors should be able to serve two terms in the post, arguing four years gives a member time to grow into the position. | Kris Connor/Getty Images

House Democrats approved a new slate of caucus rules Tuesday aimed at limiting the time their members can serve in some leadership posts but not the top-tier spots.

The rules package doesnt apply to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, both of whom are not term limited in their positions. Pelosi and Hoyer have led the caucus for nearly 15 years.

Story Continued Below

Instead, the term limits apply to posts created last November after some disappointed Democrats challenged Pelosis leadership and demanded more opportunities for younger members.

The rules adopted Tuesday prohibit the caucus leadership representative a member who has been in Congress five terms or less from serving more than one term in that post.

The initial slate of rules allowed for the caucus leadership representative to serve two terms, but some members, led by Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.), successfully pushed for an amendment to limit the position to one term.

Before the amendment was adopted, Rep. Tony Crdenas of California, the current member serving in that post, said he and other future representatives should be able to serve two terms, arguing four years gives a member time to grow into the position.

But Kennedy said the idea of creating the position in the first place was to provide more opportunities to members who otherwise feel shut out of caucus leadership.

Reps. Debbie Dingell of Michigan and Kathleen Rice of New York have both complained about the prospective rules in recent weeks leading up to todays vote, insisting the five-terms-or-less post should be restricted to one term.

Dingell ran against Crdenas for the job last year and lost. Rice, meanwhile, has repeatedly called for a wholesale leadership change at the top. Dingell and Rice did not speak at Tuesday's caucus meeting, according to sources in the room.

Democrats agreed to limit voting for the caucus leadership representative to lawmakers who have served in Congress five terms or less.

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Democrats also have a freshman representative, another post added to the leadership roster last year. That position is currently held by Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii.

The caucus also adopted a rule Tuesday limiting the time members can serve as leaders of House Democrats messaging arm. Members are now limited to two consecutive terms as co-chairs of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

The DPCC was divided into three electable co-chair positions as part of the leadership changes adopted last year. Reps. Cheri Bustos of Illinois, David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Hakeem Jeffries of New York are the current leaders of the group.

The Democratic Caucus has long argued over whether to adopt with term limits; unlike Republicans, House Democrats use a seniority system for some of their most coveted spots, like committee leadership posts.

In recent years, some members, particularly those elected since 2010 who have never served in the majority, have called for ranking members and other leadership positions to be subject to term limits, too. But outspoken opposition from certain wings of the conference, most notably the Congressional Black Caucus, has prevented that idea from ever gaining real traction.

The package adopted Tuesday is the culmination of months of work by the the Committee on Organization, Study and Review, led by Reps. Karen Bass of California and Brian Higgins of New York. Bass and Higgins were tasked with making the longstanding caucus rules more user-friendly and clarifying the roles and term limits for newer leadership positions.

The caucus also agreed to rename OSR the Committee on Caucus Procedures.

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House Democrats adopt new caucus rules - Politico