Obamacare repeal short of needed support ahead of Trump-ordered vote

Fresh off a defeat on USA healthcare legislation, the White House warned rebellious conservative lawmakers that they should get behind President Donald Trump’s agenda or he may bypass them on future legislative fights, including tax reform.

Trump expressed his disappointment on Friday after House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan withdrew the bill due to lack of support.

The billionaire real estate tycoon – who entered the White House with no experience of politics or government – had put his reputation as a dealmaker on the line with the high-risk vote.

“And I think the president is disappointed in the number of people he thought were loyal to him that weren’t”, he said.

“I will not sugarcoat this, this is a disappointing day for us”, Ryan said.

Bottom-line is Obamacare won’t be repealed or replaced but meaningful healthcare must happen. Trump had insisted that the vote take place on Friday after it was delayed the day before in an embarrassing setback.

Donald Trump’s demanded high-stakes vote on overhauling the U.S. healthcare system, dismantling the Affordable Care Act known as “Obamacare” had tentatively been set to take place at 4.45pm on Friday (8.45am Saturday NZ time).

Moderates objected to numerous legislation’s provisions to roll back Medicaid and were even more suspicious of the Freedom Caucus’s push to get rid of the so-called “10 essential benefits” that health insurance providers were supposed to cover under the Affordable Care Act. The eleventh-hour negotiations broke down after Trump and the Republican leadership failed to secure enough support for the legislation, which tried to placate conservatives and moderates in the party and in the end could not bridge the ideological gap.

“Unfortunately, the legislation before the House today is now unacceptable as it would place significant new costs and barriers to care on my constituents”, he said in a statement. Trump said the current law was imploding “and soon will explode”.

Trump said Priebus is “really terrific and hard-working”, along with being “one of the top Greeks in the country”.

Supporters wait for presidential candidate and Republican front-runner Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Richmond International Raceway October 14, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.

Only a couple of hours earlier, White House press secretary Sean Spicer had told his regular press briefing: “It’s gonna pass – so that’s it”.

President Donald Trump suffered a bitter defeat Friday in his first major legislative challenge as Republican lawmakers shot down his effort to repeal Obamacare.

Trump had issued an ultimatum to his fellow Republicans after his administration failed to garner enough support for it.

“He published a book called The Art of the Deal then couldn’t sell a GOP healthcare bill to the GOP!”. Despite reports of backbiting from administration officials toward Ryan, Trump said: “I like Speaker Ryan”.

“For a guy who bills himself as the ultimate deal-maker and the ultimate closer, he has clearly struck out bigly on this”, said Brendan Boyle, a Democratic congressman from the Philadelphia suburbs.

“The people who are defeating this are the ones most like Trump – ones willing to break from the pack”, said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who also questioned the wisdom of setting a hard deadline to pass the legislation. The outcome leaves both Ryan and Trump weakened politically. I think it’s going to be a huge problem moving forward [for] our ability to govern.

“After seven awful years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!” the president tweeted Friday. The vice president had been scheduled to discuss the health care plan at a small business gathering in Little Rock and also travel to Memphis.

“I don’t see us coming back to the health care issue, at least this year, maybe not even this year”, said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, a senior Republican lawmaker who had switched from undecided to backing the bill. In remarks Friday afternoon from the Oval Office, Trump said it was hard to pass the bill without a single Democratic vote.

The vote follows weeks of wrangling. arm-twisting and haranguing as hardline House conservatives argued against certain aspects of the Trump plan and centrists blanched at the loss of coverage for millions. “One is you don’t know what’s in the bill. Because this bill is shameful”. About 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.