In a stunning development Friday afternoon, Republicans withdrew their legislation to repeal and replace the bill they have vilified since its passage seven years ago, the Affordable Care Act. The bill was pulled from consideration as it teetered on the edge of being able to pass the U.S. House of Representatives. The Wall Street Journal reports:
House Republicans met in a basement in the Capitol to decide their next steps, but it was starting to look like House GOP leaders had simply decided to abandon health legislation that was years in the making.
Mr. Trump, through Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, said Thursday night that he was done negotiating and issued a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum to Republicans, insisting that a vote take place on Friday, with the party moving on if the legislation was defeated.
To pass the Republican health plan, which has no Democratic support, the GOP leadership could afford to lose only 22 Republicans. As the vote neared, that became an increasingly impossible task.
Informal surveys by The Wall Street Journal showed that more than 30 Republicans opposed the legislation, with two new defections, one from Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA.) and another from Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), emerging by Friday.
House Republicans had already faced long odds in passing the health plan because of opposition from the House Freedom Caucus, a group of 30 to 40 Republicans with a take-no-prisoners political style.
Whether Republicans can now start over and offer another healthcare reform measure that can meet with the approval of its members is anyone’s guess.
But there is no question that this represents a crushing defeat for Speaker Paul Ryan, who wrote the bill, and President Trump, who lobbied hard for it. Ryan himself said at a hastily-called news conference following the bill’s withdrawal that this will likely have an effect on tax reform legislation planned for later this year.
