Trump takes a shot a Congress after the latest Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act collapsed.
President Donald Trump took a shot at Congress on Tuesday morning after the latest Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act collapsed amid party divisions.
“We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans, ” Trump tweeted. “Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!”
On Monday, two more Republican senators said they would oppose the GOP’s health-care overhaul — enough to doom its passage barring changes. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., then called for a vote to repeal Obamacare without an immediate replacement .
In 2015, Congress passed the bill that McConnell wants to vote on now, but President Barack Obama vetoed it. It builds in a two-year transition period, and the GOP would likely look to pass a replacement in that time.
“I believe we must continue to push forward now, ” McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “I regret that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failures of Obamacare will not be successful. That doesn’t mean we should give up.”
The GOP, which controls 52 Senate seats, could only afford to lose two votes within its party amid united Democratic opposition to the plan.
Trump has lobbied for Congress to pass an Obamacare replacement that he can sign. But he has at times contradicted himself on what he wants and seemed disengaged from the policy specifics.
In a separate tweet Tuesday, Trump added, “as I have always said, let Obamacare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan.”
Trump struck a different tune on what he wanted only hours earlier. In a Monday night tweet, he called on lawmakers to “REPEAL failing Obamacare now” then work on a new replacement plan.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly said he wanted to repeal Obamacare as soon as he took office.
Trump has previously floated letting Obamacare sputter to hurt Democrats, but said in the past that he decided against it .
