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Republicans Pull Healthcare Bill After Failing to Muster Enough Votes

HeadlineMar 27, 2017

Obamacare is the law of the land. That’s what House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday, after he pulled the Republicans’ healthcare law with President Trump’s support only minutes before the vote was scheduled. He pulled the legislation after it was clear he had failed to muster enough votes for the bill to pass. Both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had heavily lobbied Republican lawmakers ahead of the vote. But the bill was opposed by the entire Democratic Party, as well as many members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and some moderate Republicans. This is House Speaker Paul Ryan speaking to reporters shortly after pulling the bill.

Speaker Paul Ryan: “I don’t know what else to say, other than Obamacare is the law of the land. It’s going to remain the law of the land, until it’s replaced. We did not have quite the votes to replace this law. And so, yeah, we’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future. I don’t know how long it’s going to take us to replace this law.”

While Trump initially blamed Democrats for the legislative failure, he switched his focus to fellow Republicans over the weekend. On Sunday morning, he tweeted, “Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & [Obamacare]!” On Sunday, Texas Congressmember Ted Poe resigned from the Freedom Caucus in protest of the group’s opposition to the Republican healthcare plan. Meanwhile, Politico is reporting that the push to pass the legislation was harmed in part because Trump, unlike many congressmembers, did not appear to know that much—or care that much—about the details of healthcare policy. Following his first major legislative failure, Trump warned he is now going to let Obamacare explode.

President Donald Trump: “I’ve been saying for the last year and a half that the best thing we can do, politically speaking, is let Obamacare explode. It is exploding right now. It’s—many states have big problems. Almost all states have big problems.”

We’ll have more on the Republicans’ plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and what comes next, after headlines.

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