President Donald Trump is giving
House Republicans an ultimatum:
Pass the American Health Care Act on
Friday, or Obamacare stays.
Mick Mulvaney, the Office of Budget
and Management director, made
clear to Republicans on Thursday
night that Trump wants a vote Friday
and that he is done negotiating on
the bill to overhaul healthcare. If it is
not passed, the president will move
on from the bill, reports said.
The GOP leadership will bring the bill
to a vote on the House floor Friday,
according to Bloomberg's Sahil
Kapur. It is unclear whether it has
the votes to pass.
"Disastrous Obamacare has led to
higher costs & fewer options. It will
only continue to get worse!" Trump
tweeted Thursday evening. "We must
#RepealANDReplace. #PassTheBill."
House Republican leaders originally
wanted to vote on the AHCA on
Thursday, but an impasse with the
conservative House Freedom Caucus
led them to delay the vote.
Trump, who has been called the
"closer" by House Speaker Paul Ryan,
met with Freedom Caucus members
on Wednesday and Thursday but
could not get them to agree to vote
for the AHCA.
In fact, some concessions that the
White House has been considering
for the Freedom Caucus has made
moderate members of the GOP waver
on the bill. Conservatives have been
calling for the AHCA to drop
provisions from Obamacare that
disallow insurers from denying
coverage based on preexisting
conditions. They have also urged the
bill to be scrapped of so-called
essential health benefits that set a
baseline for the necessary coverage a
health insurer has to provide.
Mulvaney, once a member of the
Freedom Caucus, reportedly laid
down an ultimatum to the GOP
members including the Freedom
Caucus and the moderate Tuesday
Group at a meeting on Capitol Hill.
Delay