Trump PAC Rewards ‘Repeal Obamacare Caucus’ with Ad Buy

A new political action committee founded by allies of President Donald Trump aims to bolster Republicans who supported a GOP leadership plan to repeal Obamacare that failed in late March.

The group, America First Policies, launched a $3 million ad buy on Monday to support 12 Republican members of the House who played ball when other members of the caucus bucked the president and Speaker Ryan. For now, the PAC won’t be attacking the Republicans who were reluctant to back the failed attempt.

“We’re starting positive, but all options are on the table.”

The American Health Care Act was doomed to fail almost from the moment House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) held up a copy of the bill. The bill weathered intense criticism from both the House Freedom Caucus, a group of about 35 conservatives, and the Tuesday Group, a collection of moderate Republicans. Ryan eventually withdrew the bill from consideration.

Despite the failure of the bill, GOP hopes for an Obamacare repeal have not died. Just before the two-week Easter recess, a senior White House official told LifeZette that Trump was working with congressional leaders to make a new package more attractive to conservatives.

Now, the Trump-aligned group appears to be greasing the skids for a fresh push on getting health care reform done — putting up real money in ads to show lawmakers there is a reward for being a team player. America First is run by GOP strategist Nick Ayers, a longtime aide to Vice President Mike Pence, according to the Washington Post.

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Brad Parscale will be a senior adviser. Parscale ran Trump’s digital operations and is one of the few GOP operatives — within the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign itself — who, in the final days, was confident Trump would prevail on Election Day.

Katie Walsh, who recently departed a position as deputy White House chief of staff, will reportedly helm the Obamacare operation.

Katrina Pierson, one of Trump’s former campaign spokespersons, will be the PAC’s spokesperson.

The Post reports that part of the effort will be a Twitter hashtag known as #ROC, standing for the Repeal Obamacare Caucus. The acronym is a subtle swipe at the Freedom Caucus, which, for now, remains outside of the PAC’s crosshairs.

But the Freedom Caucus is intended to get the message, the Post reported.

“We’re starting positive, but all options are on the table,” one PAC adviser told the Post.