The House of Representatives called off Thursday’s vote of the healthcare bill hours before it was set to take place, a legislation that is set to test President Donald Trump’s ability to work with Congress to deliver on his agenda.
Key factions of the GOP, from the conservative Freedom Caucus to the more moderate Tuesday Group, could not come round to voting yes for Trumpcare, or as it is formally called, the American Health Care Act. Conservative Republicans, who wanted a complete repeal, did not feel that the bill went far enough. And moderates maintained that new bill would hurt their constituents too much.
It is not clear when a vote might occur but House Republicans plan to meet Thursday evening to discuss next steps, Politico reports.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.
The White House appeared to be confident that the bill would would pass. Press Secretary Sean Spicer expressed optimism on Wednesday during his daily press briefing.
“There’s ‘Plan A’ and ‘Plan A,’” he said. “We’re going to get this done.”
Trump himself said that he expected things to go his way on Thursday.
“I think we’re doing well. We’ll find out in about three hours,” he said, just as reports began to surface that the vote had been postponed, according to Reuters.
Former President Barack Obama also urged lawmakers Thursday to preserve and build on his signature law.
“The Affordable Care Act is law only because millions of Americans mobilized, and organized, and decided that this fight was about more than health care — it was about the character of our country,” he wrote.
Trump has remained mum since the postponement was announced, but we expect he will share his thoughts on Twitter sometime soon.