Self-proclaimed dealmaker Donald Trump has failed to convince enough of his own party representatives to back him in what should have been the first big vote of his presidency.
Mr Trump’s attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare – his predecessor’s legislation to expand healthcare provision – has been postponed because too few Republicans backed it.
The vote on a new bill was supposed to take place on Thursday in Congress but has been delayed, with the White House now saying they could have enough votes to hold it on Friday morning.
It comes after Republican House intelligence committee chairman Devin Nunes was forced to apologise to Democrats after going public with allegations that the communications of some in the Trump team were included in legal surveillance before he told his own panel.
The President and his supporters have spent days frantically trying to gather support from politicians who complain either that the reforms go too far or not far enough.
Mr Trump has struggled to balance the demands of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, who want to scrap more of the Affordable Care Act’s benefits and insurance requirements, and moderates in the Tuesday Group who fear the bill will leave millions of Americans worse off.
Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows predicted that the bill will be agreed eventually, but admitted: “We have not gotten enough of our members to get to a ‘yes’ at this point.”
As failure to meet the deadline loomed, Mr Trump’s Twitter account was used to try to mobilise his supporters who were urged to put pressure on their Representative in the House.
“We are taking action to #repealANDreplace #Obamacare! Contact your Rep,” it told them.
The failure to get a decisive win by the promised deadline is a significant setback for the president who has repeatedly promised his supporters that he would immediately repeal what many see as unwarranted and costly government interference in their lives.
The administration’s problems are now stacking up, with two congressional investigations into Russian interference in the election and increasing evidence of Trump officials caught up in intelligence gathering by US security services.
Source: Sky News
