As the pressure mounts on the entire Republican Party to come together and repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and push through their replacement, it appears that trouble is occurring at the top of the pecking order. With the GOP replacement plan failing to gain traction, Donald Trump is putting much of the blame on House Speaker Paul Ryan who he thinks hasn't been able to handle the pressure.
Trump's blame game
The American Health Care Act was supposed to be the united vision of the Republican Party as they finally repeal and replace Obamacare.
However, when the GOP revealed the plan just two weeks ago, it was met with immediate backlash from both Republicans and Democrats. In recent days, Donald Trump has been at odds with dozens of GOP lawmakers who have refused to support the bill, leading to the party postponing a floor on Thursday, while rescheduling it for Friday afternoon. Trump reportedly became so frustrated on Thursday night that he warned congressional Republicans opposing the bill that he would leave Obamacare in place and move on to other issues if they didn't at least take part in a vote. As reported by The Hill on March 24, Trump now regrets even backing the plan, and is not pleased with Paul Ryan in the process.
According to The Hill late Thursday night, Donald Trump expressed "regret" in backing the GOP Health Care Bill after it received such negative public feedback.
Originally reported in the New York Times, the president is aggravated that he didn't prioritize tax reform, which he believes would have been an easier sell and more popular in Congress.
Trump has told people close to him that he regrets going along with Paul Ryan's plan to push health care first https://t.co/12tnYfeZ2M
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 24, 2017
On Friday, the The Hill also reported that Donald Trump believes Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has "put way too much trust in (Paul) Ryan," according to a source close to the White House.
Trump has referred to the health care sequencing as a "blunder," which was championed by Paul Ryan. Despite this, Trump at least publicly came to the defense of Ryan while speaking to reporters on Friday, saying he thinks he should remain Speaker of the House even if the health care bill fails.
Moving forward
On Friday afternoon, Paul Ryan will hold a vote on the American Health Care Act, which is expected to be a tough fight to overcome. With no Democrats in favor, it's unknown if the GOP will be able to gain enough support within their own party to pass the bill onto the Senate, despite the promotion of Donald Trump.
