The leader of the House's hardline conservative caucus is trying to get a 'grand compromise' with the Senate on healthcare

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May 8, 2017 9:57 PM

Mark Meadows, the head of the House Freedom Caucus, is working with the Senate to keep the upper chamber's version of the GOP healthcare bill conservative.

Mark Meadows and Donald Trump

Meadows told HuffPost that he has been working with the Senate on the bill for it to reflect the more conservative elements that the Freedom Caucus worked to add to the American Health Care Act, which passed through the House last week.

A source close to the Freedom Caucus confirmed to Business Insider on Monday that Meadows has met with the Senate steering committee on healthcare over the past month about the chamber's legislation.

The Freedom Caucus source said Sens. Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, two staunchly conservative members of the upper chamber, have been "heavily involved" in meetings between the camps. Cruz and Lee, along with Sen. Rand Paul, came out along with the Freedom Caucus in opposition to the original version of the AHCA for not going far enough in its repeal of Obamacare.

The Freedom Caucus source said Meadows has also met with Sens. John Thune, Bill Cassidy, and Tom Cotton about the bill. Cassidy and Cotton have been critical of some of the concessions that got the Freedom Caucus's members on board.

Meadows told HuffPost that the "

Once on the fringe of the party after joining Congress in 2013, Meadows has found himself at the center of the healthcare push. The North Carolina lawmaker even stood behind President Donald Trump along with House Speaker Paul Ryan and the chairs of powerful House committees that drafted the AHCA during the celebration of the bill's passage in the House.

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