'If you can do better than that, call me': Lindsey Graham says a coalition of Steve Bannon, Jeb Bush, and Alan Greenspan is behind his health bill
During a flight from New York to Washington, DC, Graham told reporters he is confident that the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson bill will pass - in part because of the coalition working to win over lawmakers.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, now the head of the far-right website Breitbart, is working on whipping votes for the bill, Graham said. Graham referred to Bannon, with whom he clashed while Bannon was in the White House, as "Darth Vader."
"Steve and I have our differences," Graham said. "But he loves the idea of federalism. He said, 'This is the best idea I've heard in years, maybe not coming from the best guy I've known in years.'"
The South Carolina Republican says he has also enlisted the support of a few more moderate voices: former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan and former Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
"And so I've got Alan Greenspan, Jeb Bush, and Steve Bannon," Graham said. "If you can do better than that, call me."
The legislation must be passed by the end of September for the GOP to use a process that allows them to avoid a Democratic filibuster.
The vote is expected to come down to the wire ,since only two Republicans can oppose the bill for it to pass.