At a GOP conference meeting last night, establishment Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma told his colleagues that "this is not a test for President Trump, he's already leading. This is not a test for our leadership. This is a test for us," according to a source in the room.
The GOP leadership's view is that they're still short on the vote count, and that they need to be assured of 216 votes before putting it on the floor. They think if the bill comes to the floor with less than the required number, 
the vote will collapse on them. They say simply announcing the House is going to vote is not going to cause the vote total to go up. Members don't want to vote on something that will go down.
And as long as the House Freedom Caucus stands tall for the principles they claimed they stand for it will go down.
The question is, as always, will those who claim to be the staunchest conservatives in the House of Representatives actually stand tall when the pressure is on?
Signs are very mixed – only 4 Republicans voted against the Rule to bring the #Ryancare abomination to the House Floor tomorrow.
Even among the many problems with #Ryancare the ultimate deal breaker for conservatives is it retains Obamacare’s taxpayer subsidy for illegal aliens.
After all the meetings, after all the calls and emails Speaker Ryan is taking out Essential Health Benefits (the rule forcing insurance companies to put everything in every plan) and putting back in the .9 Medicare Tax.
That's it.
Recent changes made to the #Ryancare bill to persuade conservative House Republicans to vote for it do not address one of its most critical flaws – allowing illegal aliens to obtain health care through identity fraud.
Much as we’d like President Trump to succeed, providing subsidized health care to illegal aliens is too steep a price for conservatives to pay to support the President in his optimistic push to use Speaker Paul Ryan’s disastrous Obamacare 2.0, Rinocare or #Ryancare bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
House Republican leaders never intended to repeal Obamacare. That was made quite clear today.
The question now is will the House Freedom Caucus stand up to Ryan and refuse to be bullied into supporting a bill that doesn’t do what they have been promising to do for seven years?
Conservatives are getting next to nothing in the #Ryancare bill. It’s time for conservatives and for President Trump to take his own deal making advice and walk away from this disaster – there are better deals available and the price of giving illegal aliens taxpayer subsidized health care is way too high.
We urge CHQ readers to contact House Freedom Caucus members to tell them to stand tall in opposition to #Ryancare.
Freedom Caucus Member Contact Information:
Mark Meadows (NC)
(202) 225-6401
@RepMarkMeadows
Justin Amash (MI)
(202) 225-3831
@justinamash
Brian Babin (TX)
(202) 225-1555
@RepBrianBabin
Rod Blum (IA)
(202) 225-2911
@RepRodBlum
Dave Brat (VA)
(202) 225-2815
@RepDaveBrat
Jim Bridenstine (OK)
(202) 225-2211
@RepJBridenstine
Mo Brooks (AL)
(202) 225-4801
@RepMoBrooks
Ken Buck (CO)
(202) 225-4676
@RepKenBuck
Warren Davidson (OH)
(202) 225-6205
@WarrenDavidson
Ron DeSantis (FL)
(202) 225-2706
@repdesantis
Scott DesJarlais (TN)
(202) 225-6831
@DesJarlaisTN04
Jeff Duncan (SC)
(202) 225-5301
@RepJeffDuncan
Trent Franks (AZ)
(202) 225-4576
@RepTrentFranks
Paul Gosar (AZ)
(202) 225-2315
@RepGosar
Morgan Griffith (VA)
(202) 225-3861
@RepMGriffith
Andy Harris (MD)
(202) 225-5311
@RepAndyHarrisMD
Jody Hice (GA)
(202) 225-4101
@CongressmanHice
Jim Jordan (OH)
(202) 225-2676
@Jim_Jordan
Raúl Labrador (ID)
(202) 225-6611
@Raul_Labrador
Barry Loudermilk (GA)
(202) 225-2931
@RepLoudermilk
Alex Mooney (WV)
(202) 225-2711
@RepAlexMooney
Gary Palmer (AL)
(202) 225-4921
@USRepGaryPalmer
Steve Pearce (NM)
(202) 225-2365
@RepStevePearce
Scott Perry (PA)
(202) 225-5836
@RepScottPerry
Ted Poe (TX)
(202) 225-6565
@JudgeTedPoe
Bill Posey (FL)
(202) 225-3671
@congbillposey
Mark Sanford (SC)
(202) 225-3176
@repsanfordsc
David Schweikert (AZ)
(202) 225-2190
@repdavid
Randy Weber (TX)
(202) 225-2831
@TXRandy14
Ted Yoho (FL)
(202) 225-5744
@RepTedYoho
Joe Barton (TX)
(202) 225-2002
@RepJoeBarton
Louie Gohmert (TX)
(202) 225-3035
@replouiegohmert
