House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer told CNBC on Friday he doesn’t blame Americans who may have lost faith in Congress, because he feels their pain.
“Americans ought to be disgusted with Congress,” he said in an interview with “Power Lunch.”
“I’m disgusted with Congress. I’ve been here 36 years and very frankly, I have been known as somebody who can work on consensus.”
He said he is prepared to work with his colleagues across the aisle, but that his Republican counterparts haven’t been willing to do so.
Hoyer spoke less than an hour before the expected vote on the Republican health-care bill, which no Democrats are supporting.
The bill is also having a tough time getting enough votes from the Republican side from both moderates and conservatives. The party is working to try to muster enough “yes”es before the expected 3:30 p.m. ET vote.
At least 34 Republicans have said they will vote “no” or are leaning toward voting “no,” enough to doom the measure’s passage, according to an NBC News tally. That figure could change throughout the day.
Hoyer said he has “no doubt” that the majority of the House opposes the bill, albeit for different reasons.
“They may have their arms twisted and they may ultimately say ‘uncle,’ but the fact of the matter is … when the vote is called and the members express their honest motives, this bill will fail,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, House Speaker Paul Ryan visited the White House to tell President Donald Trump the bill lacked the votes to pass, according to The New York Times and CNN.
— CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.