Conservative GOP leader says 'there's going to be rebellion against everybody' if Republicans don't get something done
Rep. Mark Meadows, the chair of the influential conservative House Freedom Caucus, said during a Bloomberg event on Thursday that the GOP needs to accomplish a legislative agenda item by the end of the year or face serious blowback.
"If we get to December and we've not repealed and replaced Obamacare, we've not built the wall, we've not done tax reform, let me just tell you it's not going to be pretty some eight or nine months after that in terms of reelection," Meadows said.
The North Carolina lawmaker said that unless Republicans get something done, "there's going to be rebellion against everybody."
As it stands, Republicans have so far failed to pass a bill repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Many of their other legislative priorities are in early stages.
The big push for the rest of the year will come on tax reform. But Meadows said there are few details on that plan and little time with which to get the effort passed.
"At some point you're going to have to call the play," Meadows said. "You're going to have to get specific."
Meadows added at the event it's time to "get on with it" and that a tax-code overhaul "needs to happen by Thanksgiving." December is stacked with several key deadlines associated with government funding, the debt ceiling, and more after President Donald Trump's deal on Wednesday with Democrats.
As it stands now, a slew of unanswered questions remain on the tax reform plan - such as what the corporate rate would be and whether the cuts would be permanent or temporary.
In a speech on Wednesday in North Dakota, Trump said that details would come "in two weeks."