Rep. Ted Poe Lloyd (Ted) Theodore PoeTexas New Members 2019 Cook shifts two House GOP seats closer to Dem column Five races to watch in the Texas runoffs MORE (R-Texas) resigned Sunday from the House Freedom Caucus, indicating he did so because he wanted to vote for the Republican healthcare proposal the right-wing caucus so adamantly opposed. 
 
 “I have resigned from the House Freedom Caucus,” Poe said in a statement. 
 
 Poe reportedly broke with the House Freedom Caucus’s views of the GOP healthcare proposal and planned to vote for the bill, which House leaders ultimately pulled from the floor on Friday. 
 
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 Poe said his decision to leave the caucus will enable him to better serve his constituents. 
 
 “In order to deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward. Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective Member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead,” Poe added. 
 
 Poe told chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) about his departure from the group, according to a tweet by reporter Chad Pergram. 
 
 The Freedom Caucus does not keep an official list of members, and Poe was a recent addition to the group. 
 
 The caucus, rooted in the Tea Party movement, said the American Health Care Act (AHCA) did not fulfill the Republican promise to fully repeal and replace ObamaCare. 
 
 Despite President Trump’s and House Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanOvernight Health Care: Trump calls for crackdown on surprise medical bills | Trump officials give religious exemption to foster care program | Uninsured rate at highest level since 2014 | Juul hires former Harry Reid chief of staff As new Congress begins, federal-state connections are as important as ever Trump once asked Paul Ryan why he couldn’t be ‘loyal': book MORE’s late attempts to amend the bill to gain support from the caucus, Meadows said the bill does not do enough. 
 
 Trump reportedly threatened to target Meadows and other naysayers politically if they opposed the bill. 
 
 Despite his threats, the House Freedom Caucus did not budge and Ryan indefinitely postponed a vote on the AHCA. 
 
 Mallory Shelbourne contributed. 

 FILE - In a March 23, 2017 file photo, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, right, departs after a Republican caucus meeting on Capitol Hill, in Washington. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," March... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's aides opened the door to working with moderate Democrats on health care and other issues while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer quickly offered to find common ground with Trump for repairing former President Barack Obama's health care law. 
 
 Schumer said Sunday that Trump must be willing to drop attempts to repeal his predecessor's signature achievement, warning that Trump was destined to "lose again" on other parts of his agenda if he remained beholden to conservative Republicans. 
 
 Trump initially focused the blame for the failure on Democrats and predicted a dire future for the current law. But on Sunday he turned his criticism toward conservative lawmakers for the failure of the Republican bill, complaining on Twitter: "Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!" 
 
 The Freedom Caucus is a hard-right group of more than 30 GOP House members who were largely responsible for blocking the bill to undo the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." The bill was pulled from the House floor Friday in a humiliating political defeat for the president, having lacked support from conservative Republicans, some moderate Republicans and Democrats. 
 
 In additional fallout from the jarring setback, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, said he was leaving the caucus. Poe tweeted Friday that some lawmakers "would've voted against the 10 Commandments." 
 
 "We must come together to find solutions to move this country forward," Poe said Sunday in a written statement. "Saying 'no' is easy, leading is hard but that is what we were elected to do." 
 
 On Sunday, Trump aides made clear that the president could seek support from moderate Democrats on upcoming legislative battles ranging from the budget and tax cuts to health care, leaving open the possibility he could revisit health care legislation. Whether he would work to repair Obama's law was a big question. 
 
 White House chief of staff Reince Priebus scolded conservative Republicans, explaining that Trump had felt "disappointed" with a "number of people he thought were loyal to him that weren't." 
 
 "It's time for the party to start governing," Priebus said. "I think it's time for our folks to come together, and I also think it's time to potentially get a few moderate Democrats on board as well." 
 
 As he ponders his next steps, Trump faces decisions on whether to back administrative changes to fix Obama's health care law or undermine it as prices for insurance plans rise in many markets. Over the weekend, the president tweeted a promise of achieving a "great healthcare plan" because Obamacare will "explode." 
 
 Priebus did not answer directly regarding Trump's choice, saying that fixes to the health law will have to come legislatively and he wants to ensure "people don't get left behind." 
 
 "I don't think the president is closing the door on anything," he said. 
 
 Schumer, a New York Democrat, suggested that "if he changes, he could have a different presidency." 
 
 "But he's going to have to tell the Freedom Caucus and the hard-right special wealthy interests who are dominating his presidency ... he can't work with them, and we'll certainly look at his proposals," Schumer said. 
 
 Their comments came after another day of finger-pointing among Republicans, both subtle and otherwise. On Saturday, Trump urged Americans in a tweet to watch Judge Jeanine Pirro's program on Fox News that night. She led her show by calling for House Speaker Paul Ryan to resign, blaming him for the defeat of the bill in the Republican-controlled chamber. 
 
 Priebus described the two events as "coincidental," insisting that Trump was helping out a friend by plugging her show and no "preplanning" occurred. 
 
 "He doesn't blame Paul Ryan," Priebus said. "In fact, he thought Paul Ryan worked really hard. He enjoys his relationship with Paul Ryan, thinks that Paul Ryan is a great speaker of the House." 
 
 Priebus said Trump was looking ahead for now at debate over the budget and a tax plan, which he said would include a border adjustment tax and middle-class tax cuts. 
 
 "It's more or less a warning shot that we are willing to talk to anyone. We always have been," he said. "I think more so now than ever, it's time for both parties to come together and get to real reforms in this country." 
 
 Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the Freedom Caucus, acknowledged he was doing a lot of "self-critiquing" after the health care defeat. He insisted the GOP overhaul effort was not over and that he regretted not spending more time with moderate Republicans and Democrats "to find some consensus." 
 
 Priebus spoke on "Fox News Sunday," and Schumer and Meadows appeared on ABC's "This Week." 
 
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 Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.
– After the healthcare bill he championed hit a wall with conservative Republicans, President Trump might be looking for room to maneuver in the opposite direction. Trump's aides opened the door to working with moderate Democrats on healthcare and other issues over the weekend while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer quickly offered to find common ground with Trump for repairing ObamaCare, the AP reports. Schumer said Trump "could have a different presidency" if he changes—but if he wants to work with Democrats, Trump will have to drop the attempt to repeal ObamaCare, and say no to "the Freedom Caucus and the hard-right special wealthy interests who are dominating his presidency." White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said Sunday that Trump was "disappointed" with "people he thought were loyal to him that weren't." "I think it's time for our folks to come together, and I also think it's time to potentially get a few moderate Democrats on board as well," he said. The Hill reports that amid the fallout from the healthcare failure, Rep. Ted Poe quit the House Freedom Caucus, which opposed the bill because members believed it didn't do enough to repeal ObamaCare. "We must come together to find solutions to move this country forward," the Texan said in a statement. "Saying 'no' is easy, leading is hard but that is what we were elected to do." (Trump lashed out at the caucus in a tweet Sunday.)