Sean Spicer Defends Trump Administration On Health Care, Transparency

WASHINGTON, DC — Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended the White House Tuesday on charges of lack of transparency and brushed off charges that Congress is moving too fast on health care reform. Tuesday's daily press briefing was the first televised event with the press secretary in more than a week, a fact that had raised objections by some in the media. Watch a replay of the event below.

Rumors have spread rapidly in recent days of Spicer's departure from the press secretary role, though no one has yet been confirmed as his replacement. Spicer continues to face questions from reporters about his future within the administration, as well as the future of press briefings going forward, which have increasingly taken place off-camera. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"I'm right here — so you can still keep taking those selfies," Spicer said.

"We're going to do what we can to communicate our message," he said when asked about the frequency of press briefings. "The briefing is one aspect of what we do." But he noted that there were many other opportunities for the press to interact with the administration.

"You always have issues, you always want more," Spicer added. "And that's your right."

Spicer downplayed expectations about Georgia's 6th District special election, held Tuesday. He noted that the president only won the district by one point, suggesting it was always going to be a close race. He also said that historically, special elections say little about the outcome of other elections down the road.

When asked if Trump believes that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election, Spicer said he hasn't talked to the president about that question. It was a startling answer, given that the intelligence community has made its belief that Russia did attempt to meddle in the race very clear since October 2016. Trump himself has repeatedly cast doubt on the idea of Russian interference and has said that the intelligence agencies don't really know for sure what happened. All high-ranking members of the intelligence community, however, have testified definitively that Russian espionage was involved.

Trump recently called the House's health care bill "mean," according to multiple reports. This remark raised significant questions about the president's support of Congress' Obamacare repeal efforts.

Spicer called the process an "ongoing process with Senate leaders" but said he would not get into details about the personal conversations about the bill.

“The president clearly wants a bill that has heart in it,” Spicer said. Asked whether Trump had seen the current bill under consideration in the Senate, Spicer said he didn't know.

When asked about the process Congress was undergoing to pass the bill, which had faced criticism for its speed and lack of transparency, Spicer declined to comment on the lawmakers' choices.

"I’m sure that there will be plenty of time to have debate,” he said. Spicer rejected the idea that Republicans were "jamming the bill" through in the same way he had criticized the Democrats for doing when it came to Obamacare, since Democrats had already said they didn't want to work on repeal efforts.

The briefing room was particularly crowded ahead of Spicer's appearance:

Write a letter to the editor of the White House Patch.

Like The White House Patch Facebook Page.

Follow us on Twitter.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images News/Getty Images