job right now may be on capitol hill. on wednesday he made it clear the time for debate is over. the american people want to know if it s still possible for washington to look out for their interests and their future. they are waiting for us to act. they are waiting for us to leave. as long as i hold this office, i intend to provide that leadership. i do not know how this plays political, but i know it s right. and so i ask congress to finish its work and i look forward to signing this reform into law. thank you very much, everybody. let s get it done. robert gibbs is the white house press secretary and he joins us now. robert, i got to ask straight up the president said i ll just repeat the line the america people want to know if it is still possible for washington to look out for their interests. well, washington is run by the democratic party right now. democratic house. democratic senate. democratic president. if you can t get this health care done, it seems as almost
troops. some frustration among democrats. even though the president is saying let s get health care done, he s not charting out or laying out publicly a path for them to do that. i really think the plan here is to put health care on hold. let the dust settle a little bit and move forward with the jobs bill which the senate democrats will introduce today. maybe even financial regulatory reform, try and get a victory there, and return to health care. you don t have the same feeling of urgency you had earlier in the year. and the democrats, did the i am hearing from a lot of democrats on the hill, the more moderate, conservative democrats in house districts that went for mccain and bush, just aren t going to follow him now. i guess that s the biggest problem, right? not the numbers. because the numbers only changed by one after massachusetts. it s the chilling effect that scott brown s remarkable victory in massachusetts had on these more moderate members, right? i think that s righ
dignify a response from this podium. and so it goes, with the debt ceiling deadline coming and budget deadline coming, manu raju is reporting from capitol hill. what s the mood right now between capitol hill republicans and the president given what he s leveled at mitch mcconnell and speaker ryan. congress is on a recess so a lot of members are avoiding the back and forth that s happening between the president and republican leadership. i can tell you, from the number of members that i ve spoken to on the phone and over text and aides as well, they are, frankly, flabbergasted because they don t understand why the president is directing all of his frustration, his anger on his own party. essentially passing the blame for their failure to get legislation through on capitol hill when a lot of republicans say one big reason why, for instance, they didn t get health care done, is because the way the president went after members of his own party, singling out people like lisa murkowski,
what the communication said. certainly any of us here, we d run. if you got record low approval hatings, you must when do you get it a charge. not on that, you have a republican congress, a republican senate. you are unable to get health care done, unable it really move forward on a tax bill. enwechlt, mish, ohio, the states that put you over the top, when do you you begin to do the things you promised to do? and republicans, who are trying
washington for a vote. we re joined by the national political reporter. jonathan good morning to you on a very busy wednesday. i want to ask you, how is health care and tax reform looking like it will actually play out as of now for the republican? well, health care is still very big lift. my colleagues yesterday spoke to charlie dent, the head of the moderate tuesday group in the republican house and he told them that he thinks the way to get health care done is to work with democrats so you re seeing a movement away from the conservative faction in the republican house to work with democrats. that would obviously be a radically different bill than on other track you have the white house working with meadows and the ultraconservative house freedom caucus. tax reform was never going to happen in august. steve as treasury secretary was