House and Senate Republicans seem split on health care future

— -- House GOP leaders expressed confidence Tuesday morning that the party would be able to repeal and replace Obamacare after a conference meeting with members -- a total reversal just four days after pulling the plug on their first effort -- while their Senate counterparts seemed eager to abandon the issue entirely.

"After this morning, the resolve of our conference to repeal Obamacare and replace it has never been stronger," House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, said.

"I think we're closer today to repealing Obamacare than we've ever been before, and surely even closer than we were Friday," he said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, said members who were reluctant to support the American Health Care Act last week now "expressed a willingness to work on getting to yes" in today's meeting, which lasted roughly two hours.

Republicans suffered an embarrassing setback on Friday when they were forced to pull their bill to repeal Obamacare from the House floor after it became clear the measure did not have adequate GOP support to pass. A critical mass of Republicans expressed concerns about the measure and resisted White House efforts to earn their support.

Ryan refused to commit to a timeline for action "because we want to get it right."

On Monday, the Wisconsin Republican told top GOP donors that House Republicans "are going to keep getting at this thing" on health care, according to an audio recording obtained by The Washington Post.

“We’re not going to just all of a sudden abandon health care and move on to the rest. We are going to move on with rest of our agenda, keep that on track, while we work the health care problem," he said.

A spokesman for Ryan confirmed the accuracy of the speaker's comments.

But Senate Republicans have all but dropped health care from their agenda, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear today.

"It is pretty obvious we were not able in the House to pass a replacement. Our Democratic friends ought to be pretty happy about that because we have the existing law in place and I think we're just gonna have to see how that works out," the Kentucky Republican told reporters.

Despite the latest display of political will to repeal Obamacare among House Republicans, it's not clear if GOP moderates and hard-liners can agree on how to go about replacing former President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

Rep. Dave Brat, R-Virginia, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a rambunctious group of hard-liners that held out against the American Health Care Act last week, told reporters the group is working to set up a meeting with the moderate "Tuesday Group" caucus on a path forward, as unlikely as it seems.

"We think there's a win-win in there," Brat said. "Once a few subgroups come together with a potential yes, boy I think it's gonna be happening."

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina and chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said today, "I think we're continuing to work in a way with some of our more moderate members and trying to find some solutions."

Others are forging ahead with their own plans. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, filed a discharge petition to force a vote on a "clean" repeal of Obamacare, a highly unusual parliamentary measure for a member of the majority party to undertake against leadership. Even if all 193 Democrats join Brooks’ longshot effort, another 22 Republicans would have to join Democrats to force a vote -- which is highly unlikely given their perception of repeal as a poison pill.