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Congressman Tom MacArthur On Stepping Down From Moderate Republican Group: 'They Were Mad That I Negotiated With The Freedom Caucus'

PHILADELPHIA(CBS) -- South Jersey Congressman Tom MacArthur announced his resignation as co-Chair from a group of moderate Republicans in the House of Representatives that call themselves 'The Tuesday Group.' MacArthur explained during an appearance on The Rich Zeoli Show on Talk Radio 1210 that the reason for his decision stems from blowback he's received from colleagues over negotiations he held with more conservative Republicans that enabled GOP's healthcare bill to gain enough support to pass the House.

"You can't lead people where they don't want to go. More than half of the no votes on our healthcare bill came from 'Tuesday Group' members and while most of the members voted yes, the loudest and most active, at the moment, members are the ones who voted no. I have a very different view of governing. They were mad that I negotiated with the Freedom Caucus. I'm not going to change who I am. The idea that we wouldn't negotiate with members of our own party is totally ludicrous to me and I just realized, I'm going to keep doing this, some of these people are going to continue to be angry and upset about it. I'm not looking to be divisive within Tuesday group, but I'm not looking to change who I am either. So, I just decided the best way for me to proceed was to step away."

MacArthur said he'll continue to work with any Republican interested in moving their agenda forward because he does not believe Democrats will provide assistance at all.

"I'm going do what I think the American people want us to do and need us to do, frankly, and that's work together, within our party, I'm as bipartisan as anyone. I have a very bipartisan voting record. But, if we think the Democrats are going to help us on heavy lifting right now on healthcare, on tax reform, on financial service reform, if we think the Democrats are going to help us with these things, we are kidding ourselves. They're not."

He also maintains the hope that Senate Republicans will find a way to pass their own healthcare legislation, fulfilling the party's promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

"It's at the Senate. I think some people would like to let pretend like it's going to just die there or they're going to just start over from scratch, I don't think so. I think the Senate is now grappling with the very things we had to grapple with and that is that Obamacare is failing and that we made a promise to the American people that we would fix it. When I ran for office, I've never said anything other than this law needs to be repealed and replaced. The need is more urgent than ever. It's collapsing and the people that rely on it are going to be hurt, millions of them, if we don't get this right."

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