Trump faces challenges that have put his agenda on hold

for consumers with modest incomes. approved quickly,The Obama administration BAILOUTS for Insurance used its rule-making authority Companies and BAILOUTS to set direct payments for Members of Congress will to insurers to help offset endvery soon!” these costs. Mr. Trump

No Democrats voted for inherited the payment structure, the GOP bill. but he also has the

Repeal-and-replace has power to end them. been a guiding star for Republicans The payments are the ever since President subject of a lawsuit brought Barack Obama enacted by House Republicans over the law in 2010. That goal, whether the Affordable Care which Mr. Trump turned Act specifically included a into a top campaign promise, congressional appropriation remains out of reach for the money, as required even with Republicans controlling under the Constitution. both the White Mr. Trump has only House and Congress. guaranteed the payments

But Senate Majority through July, which ends Leader Mitch McConnell, RKy., Monday. said after the bill failed Mr. Trump previously early Friday that he would said the law that he and others move to other legislative call “Obamacare” would business in the upcoming collapse immediately whenever week. those payments stop. He

Mr. Trump also tweeted: has indicated a desire to halt “Unless the Republican the subsidies but so far has Senators are total quitters, allowed them to continue on Repeal & Replace is not amonth-to-month basis. dead! Demand another vote Without the payments, before voting on any other analysts have said, more insurers bill!” might drop out of the

The subsidies, totaling system, limiting options for about $7 billion a year, help consumers and clearing the reduce deductibles and copayments way for the insurers who stay to charge more for coverage.

The Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, cautioned such a step, saying it would make health care more expensive.

“The president ought to stop playing politics with people’s lives and health care, start leading and finally begin acting presidential,” Mr. Schumer said Saturday in a written statement.

In the wake of the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Mr. Trump also castigated Republican senators for their inability to pass legislation.

“They look like fools,” Mr. Trump wrote Saturday morning on Twitter. He also renewed his demand that the Senate abolish a rule requiring 60 votes for some bills, despite the fact that the filibuster had nothing to do with the health-care bill’s failure Friday.

Mr. Trump’s rant against the filibuster kicked off early Friday, a few hours after three Republican senators joined every Democrat and the chamber’s two independents to sink the GOP’s last-ditch effort to overturn Obamacare, 51 to 49.

Mr. Kelly, Mr. Trump’s pick for White House chief of staff, will take the desk of Reince Priebus, a Republican operative who was skeptical of Mr. Trump’s electoral prospects last year and ultimately came to be viewed by the president as weak and ineffective.

Mr. Kelly’s ability to succeed will depend on factors outside his control, including whether Mr. Trump’s squabbling staff is willing to put aside the rivalries that have sowed disorder and complicated efforts to enact policy.

But the big question is, can Mr. Kelly do what Mr. Priebus couldn’t? And that’s curbing the president’s penchant for drama and unpredictability, and his tendency to focus more on settling scores than promoting a policy agenda.

No other aide or adviser has been successful on that front.