VP Pence: ObamaCare replacement will be 'all done by this spring'

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Pence: Open to talking about ways we can improve health bill

On 'Special Report,' the vice president details his role in selling the American Health Care Act

Vice President Mike Pence laid out an ambitious timetable for the GOP's ObamaCare replacement legislation Thursday, telling "Special Report with Bret Baier" that the measure would "be done by this spring."

"President Donald Trump is a man of his word," Pence told Bret Baier. "He decided the day after the election that ... the first priority of the Congress when they came back was to keep his word to repeal and replace ObamaCare, and we’re going to make sure it happens."

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The vice president signalled a willingness to compromise with conservatives who have slammed the bill as "ObamaCare Lite."

"This is the bill," Pence said, "but if there are ways to improve that bill and to give people greater confidence that we all are going to arrive at the same place ... then that's where we're headed."

In the wide-ranging interview, Pence also reacted to former national security adviser Michael Flynn's lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government during last year's campaign.

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The vice president said Flynn's action was "an affirmation of the president's decision to ask General Flynn to resign."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said earlier Thursday that Trump was not aware of Flynn's work before he appointed the former lieutenant general as national security adviser. The president fired Flynn last month for misleading Pence and other officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S.