Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has pulled his Obamacare repeal bill from the floor Friday, a day after President Donald Trump had threatened to walk away from health care reform if he didn’t get a vote.
Ryan rushed from the White House to Capitol Hill to tell Trump he did not have the votes to pass the measure, the culmination of seven years of Republican efforts to eradicate President Barack Obama’s proudest domestic achievement.
As Ryan presented the dire vote totals in his meeting with Trump, he explicitly recommended the President pull the bill, according to a senior GOP official. The decision was ultimately Trump’s. Trump made the call at 3 p.m., as the rest of House leadership was gathering in Ryan’s office.
Ryan told fellow Republicans they are “moving on” from health care, Reps. Andy Barr and Bill Flores told CNN.
Before the vote was canceled, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Friday afternoon that Trump has “left everything on the field when it comes to this bill.”
The decision means the ACA remains in place, and a major GOP campaign promise goes unfulfilled. It also casts doubt on the Republican Party’s ability to govern and to advance other high-stakes agenda items, including tax reform and infrastructure spending. Ryan is still without a signature achievement as speaker — and the defeat undermines Trump’s image as a skilled dealmaker willing to strike compromises to push his agenda forward.
“Moving from an opposition party to a governing party comes with growing pains. We’re feeling those growing pains today,”
