Updated at 4:27 p.m. ET
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday withdrew the much-maligned bill to replace Affordable Care Act from the floor Friday as Republican dissent swelled.
The move came just minutes befor the U.S. House of Representatives was set to vote on the American Health care Act. GOP leadership in the House frantically tried to muster up the votes to save the bill during floor discussion despite a growing number of defections from moderates and ultra-conservatives.
“This is a disappointing day for us. Doing big things is hard,” Ryan said during a press conference Friday afternoon. “All of us, myself included, will need time to reflect on how we got to this moment, what we could have done to make it better.”
Ryan visited President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday before returning to the House floor for debate on the bill, telling the president they did not have the 216 votes necessary to pass the legislation. Trump issued an ultimatum on Thursday, telling the GOP they needed to pass the AHCA or Obamacare would live on.
“He’s left everything on the field when it comes to this bill,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a press briefing Friday of Trump’s efforts to spur support for the AHCA. “You can’t force someone to vote a certain way.”
Ryan echoed Spicer’s comments, praising Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, HHS Secretary Tom Price and others for their efforts to pull together AHCA support. But he acknowledged that Republicans would be moving forward with other parts of their agenda including tax reform and strengthening the border.
“I don’t know what else to say other than Obamacare is the law of the land. It will remain the law of the land until it’s replaced,” Ryan said. “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.”
Repealing the Affordable Care Act was a key promise in many GOP campaigns across the country, including Trump’s. House Republicans spent much of the last seven years casting dozens of votes to overturn Obama’s signature healthcare reform law.
Ultra-conservatives in the House reportedly rejected Trump’s offer Thursday morning to include a repeal of the ACA’s minimum essential benefits requirement in the proposed American Health Care Act. Members of the House Freedom Caucus said they needed more changes in the bill to reduce health plan premiums or else they would vote against it.
As of Thursday afternoon, 37 House Republicans, mostly Freedom Caucus members, had declared their opposition to the bill, the Washington Post reported. A handful of more moderate GOP members, including Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, announced their opposition, spurred by proposed revisions that likely would further reduce Medicaid spending and coverage. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee also came out against AHCA, saying it would raise healthcare costs.
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