"Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" that Republicans are running out of time to get their health care bill through the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) originally set the July 4 recess as the deadline to pass the bill, but he announced Tuesday that Senate Republicans would delay the vote until after the holiday. Todd said that Republicans have a small window of time to pass the legislation.
"I don't think time is on the side of Mitch McConnell," Todd said. "I think they have maybe a week to get this done after they get back, or they are going to have to admit they are going to have to work with the Democrats."
Todd argued that the challenge Republicans face has to do with the bill's unpopularity.
"This is not wine, Hoda, this does not get better over time," he said to "Today" co-host Hoda Kotb. "This is the kind of bill that gets harder to support over time. This is why Mitch McConnell so badly wanted this to be done in a week."
"Now you are going to have a mobilization of opposition groups," Todd said. "Any one of these Republican senators that decides to have any public event of the Fourth of July, they are probably going to be hounded by protesters, probably going to be hounded by constituents."
McConnell's reputation as a legislative tactician has come under fire following this change of plans. He has stated that he delayed the vote to increase its chances of passage.
"I think we have a really good chance of getting there, "McConnell said Tuesday. "It will just take a little bit longer."