Trump delivers ultimatum: Pass health bill Friday or he’ll move on
- After failing to negotiate more support, President Trump told House Republicans that he would agree to no more changes: Pass the bill or lose the chance of repealing the Affordable Care Act.
- A vote was postponed Thursday, leaving Mr. Trump facing the possibility of a loss on his first major legislative push.
After a marathon series of negotiations involving President Trump and his top aides Thursday, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan will call a vote on the proposal at Trump’s behest, lawmakers said after a meeting Thursday night. The measure lacks sufficient votes to pass it at this point, making the move a high-risk gamble for the president and speaker, who have both invested significant political capital in passing legislation that would rewrite the Affordable Care Act. By and
The inability to appease conservatives while keeping centrists on board is what drove Speaker John A. Boehner into an early retirement. The GOP must be feeling a sense of deja vu.
A president who prefers unilateral executive action and takes intense pride in his ability to cut deals finds himself in a humbling negotiation unlike any other in his career, pinned between moderates who believe the health care measure is too harsh, and a larger group of fiscal conservatives adept at using their leverage to scuttle big deals cut by other Republican leaders.