(NewsNation) —Former Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy says President Donald Trump’s executive order on drug prices could slash costs by up to 90%, but only with bipartisan congressional support.
Trump signed a sweeping executive order Monday setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits down the road over what the government will pay.
The order is aimed at cutting drug prices, especially for popular weight-loss medications; it echoes a failed attempt from Trump’s first term that was struck down by the courts, McCarthy told “CUOMO.”
“The whole system needs to actually be looked at and not made partisan from one side or the other,” he said.
While an executive order might only be valid as long as Trump stays in office, the better option is to get the order enshrined into law by Congress, McCarthy added.
“It’s hard to make policy just from an executive order, but maybe it could go in effect as the executive order and it gives Congress the ability to see how it works and then crack legislation.”
The issue isn’t so novel that both parties can’t agree on it, the former speaker said.
“When I was speaker, we applied this in welfare reform, again, under the debt ceiling bill, and two thirds of the body of Republicans and Democrats, every Democrat in the House voted for it.”