Collins Says She’s ‘Appalled’ By Trump’s Plan to Dismantle Obamacare

Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins called President Donald Trump’s health care plan appalling Tuesday, saying that he shouldn’t use the court as a means to strike down the country’s existing health care plan.

“I think the Justice Department has a duty to defend the duly enacted laws,” Collins told Axios, also saying, “I’m appalled.”

“He should not try to get rid of it through the courts,” Collins added, according to Axios.

Collins said the department should parse through the health care plan and strip away those provisions that are unconstitutional rather than overhaul the entire plan. “This is something that I vehemently disagree with, and I hope that the courts do not go along with what the Justice Department has requested,” Collins told News Center Maine.

Former President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law in March, 2010, expanding health care to uninsured Americans while also penalizing persons who do not enroll in the program.

“I’m going to be writing to the attorney general to express my views on this,” Collins also said, according to Axios. “I was surprised and disappointed. If the president disagrees with a law, then he should should ask Congress to repeal or change that law.”

Trump tweeted Tuesday that the Republican Party will focus on health care as a major issue.

“We’ll have a plan that is far better than Obamacare” if the ACA is overturned, Trump also told reporters Wednesday.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy expressed concern about Trump’s latest move to overhaul the Affordable Care Act (ACA), reportedly telling the president in a phone call that pushing back against the ACA doesn’t make any sense, Axios reported.

McCarthy hasn’t made any public statement concerning Trump’s Wednesday remarks.

Attorney General Bill Barr and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar have echoed McCarthy’s sentiments and oppose a federal ruling on ACA, two sources told The Daily Caller News Foundation.