President Trump Says Republicans Will 'Lose Seats' If Health Bill Doesn't Pass

President Trump told Republican lawmakers Tuesday at the House GOP Conference that some of them might be voted out of Congress in 2018 if they don't vote for the American Health Care Act Thursday, the bill GOP lawmakers have proposed as an alternative to Obamacare, according to multiple outlets, including CNN and Politico.

"I honestly think many of you will lose your seats in 2018 if you don't get this done," Trump said, according to CNN. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Asked whether this was a threat, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said "no."

He continued: "He was stating a political reality."

Addressing on the president's meeting with GOP lawmakers, Speaker Paul Ryan said, "The president of the United States came to us and said, 'We made a promise to the American people and we need to keep our promises."

He continued: "The president was very clear and he laid it on the line for us."

The president also took his support for the bill to Twitter:

Despite support from the speaker and the president, the bill faces significant obstacles. It has been opposed by pundits, think tanks and interest groups from both the right and the left.

According to a tally recorded by NPR, 17 house Republicans are on the record opposing the bill, while 57 have publicly expressed doubts. With 237 seats in the House, Republicans can only lose 22 votes or so in the house and still pass the bill, assuming no Democrats sign on.

Ryan has been working to accommodate lawmakers' concerns to ensure passage.

But even if the bill passes the House, the speaker faces slimmer odds of pushing it through in the Senate. Seven Republican senators have previously publicly said they opposed the bill there, while 21 have said they're unsure. Assuming no Senate Democrats vote for the bill — and none have said they will — the bill needs 50 out of 52 Republicans to pass (along with the vice president's tie-breaking vote.)

On Tuesday alone, Sen. Mike Lee, the Utah Republican and Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton both said they oppose the bill in its current form.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged lawmakers to vote in favor of the law Tuesday.

"Due to the tremendous harm that these particular taxes will cause employers and employees alike, the Chamber urges you to support this bill and repeal the provisions in the ACA that are threatening to undermine the employer-sponsored health care system," the chamber said in a statement. "While the Chamber recognizes that further improvements need to be made, passage of this legislation is absolutely critical to restore choice, flexibility, and innovation to America’s health care markets."

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Correction: An earlier version of this article said the House had 247 Republicans. That has been corrected to be 237.

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images News/Getty Images