GOP gives up on bill to repeal Obama law
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leaders on Tuesday officially pulled the plug on the latest plan to repeal the health care law, scrapping a planned vote on the measure and effectively admitting defeat in the last-gasp drive to fulfill a core promise of President Trump and Republican lawmakers.
The decision came less than 24 hours after a pivotal Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine, declared firm opposition to the repeal proposal, all but ensuring that Republican leaders would be short of the votes they needed.
“We haven’t given up on changing the American health care system,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, said. “We are not going to be able to do that this week, but it still lies ahead of us, and we haven’t given up on that.”
McConnell, R-Ky., said Republicans would move on to their next big legislative priority: overhauling the tax code, a feat that has not been accomplished since 1986.
Democrats responded by calling for the resumption of bipartisan negotiations to stabilize health insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act. Republican leaders had squelched those talks as the latest repeal plan gained steam, hoping to present senators a single, take-it-or-leave-it decision on the legislation, written by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
“We hope we can move forward and improve health care, not engage in another battle to take it away from people, because they will fail once again if they try,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader.
Earlier Tuesday, with little hope of success in the Senate, Trump expressed his displeasure.
“At some point there will be a repeal and replace, but we’ll see whether or not that point is now or will it be shortly thereafter,” he said at the White House. “But we are disappointed in certain socalled Republicans.”
The failure in the Senate was also a disappointment to Republicans in the House, who managed to pass a repeal bill in May after their own struggles.