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Senators went into a recess skeptical over whether they could agree to legislation repealing and replacing ObamaCare. They will return on Monday more doubtful than ever. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), one of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) most loyal allies, said Thursday it’s “unlikely” the GOP will get a healthcare deal. (Bolton, 6/5)

Republican senators return on Monday from a 10-day recess with immediate decisions to make on their quest to overhaul the 2010 health care law. ... Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas said in an interview with a local radio station last month that work on the effort would be done in the chamber by “July at the latest.” That aligns with the view of several GOP aides who say a vote on a bill would likely occur before the August recess, regardless of whether there are enough votes to pass it. Addressing the legislation in that time frame would allow the Senate to return from the August break and immediately tackle a number of impending deadlines. Aside from the Republicans’ ambitious legislative agenda, which includes an overhaul of the U.S. tax code, Congress must also soon turn to funding the government through fiscal 2018 and addressing the approaching debt ceiling deadline, among other funding cliffs. (Williams, 6/5)

A pair of Republican senators voiced considerable skepticism this week about the prospect of passing a bill to revamp the nation’s health-care laws in the coming months, injecting fresh uncertainty into the GOP effort to fulfill a signature campaign promise. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) sounded a deeply pessimistic note when he told a local television station he believes it’s “unlikely that we will get a health-care deal.” Earlier in the week, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said he doubted a bill could pass before the August recess. (Sullivan, 6/2)

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) made the most direct prediction on Thursday, telling a news station in his home state that “I don’t see a comprehensive health care plan this year.” Earlier in the week, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) suggested to home-state reporters that lawmakers might shift to a shorter-term plan that would keep insurance markets working, on the heels of negative comments from Iowa GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. (Schor and Conway, 6/2)

Sen. Bill Cassidy got cheers on late-night television for calling for an Obamacare replacement plan that would pass what he calls "the Jimmy Kimmel test" — that is, cover children like the comedian's son recently born with a congenital heart defect. But the first-term senator and physician is not seeing that support from his GOP colleagues. (Haberkorn and Everett, 6/4)

Vice President Pence urged lawmakers on Saturday to pass a healthcare reform measure by the end of summer. Pence arrived at Sen. Joni Ernst's (R-Iowa) "Roast and Ride" fundraiser in Boone, Iowa riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle before taking the stage and launching into a campaign-style speech reaffirming President Trump's key promises. "Iowa is facing a healthcare crisis under ObamaCare and it's high time we take action," Pence told a crowd at the Central Iowa Expo, about 40 miles north of Des Moines. (Greenwood, 6/3)

Olathe native Tim Gronniger served as a top official with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Obama administration. Currently a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, he also was a senior adviser for health care policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council, a senior staff member for Rep. Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, and an analyst with the Congressional Budget Office. Gronniger was in Kansas City Thursday for a town hall-style meeting in Overland Park about national health care issues and the possible impact of the American Health Care Act, the Republican health care overhaul bill passed last month by the House, on local communities. (Margolies, 6/2)

Jason Westin is an oncologist and lymphoma researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. But now he wants a seat in Congress — the one held by longtime Republican congressman John Abney Culberson. Westin will have plenty of competition; several other Democrats say they'll run for the right to face off against Culberson in a district that Hillary Clinton narrowly won in November. Westin, 40, says he was bitten by the politics bug when, before medical school, he worked as an intern for former Florida senator Bob Graham (D). And now, he argues, with health-care science under assault in the nation's capital, it's important for scientists and physicians like him to get involved. (McGinley, 6/5)

The healthcare industry reported another month of strong job growth in May, outpacing the rest of the economy in hiring. The healthcare industry was among the nation's top generators of jobs last month, with 24,300 new hires in May, according to the most recent jobs report issued Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Payroll creation in healthcare was solid last month even as overall job growth fell below expectations. The economy added 138,000 non-farm jobs, which disappointed analysts who predicted about 185,000 jobs would be produced. (Castellucci, 6/2)