Trump says he phoned Schumer, touts prospect of 'great' bipartisan health care bill

President Trump tweeted today that he called Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer about possibly doing a bipartisan health care bill in the wake of Republicans' repeated failure to pass legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Schumer in a statement confirmed that he talked to the president about health care and said he told Trump that repealing Obamacare is "off the table."

"The president wanted to make another run at repeal and replace and I told the president that's off the table," the Senate minority leader said in his statement. "If he wants to work together to improve the existing health care system, we Democrats are open to his suggestions. A good place to start might be the Alexander-Murray negotiations that would stabilize the system and lower costs."

Schumer was referring to bipartisan health care talks that are being led by Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington.

Trump's tweet about his call with Schumer could irk some Republicans already unenthusiastic about the president's recent work with Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on a deal to keep the government open.

But Democrats may be wary of working with the president on health care. Besides the Democrats' refusal to entertain any possibility of repealing and replacing Obamacare, they also see the administration's action Friday rolling back the mandate on birth control coverage as sabotaging the health care law.