From the Washington Post:
House Republican leaders abruptly pulled a Republican rewrite of the nation’s health-care system from consideration on Friday, a dramatic acknowledgment that they are so far unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“We just pulled it,” President Trump told the Washington Post in a telephone interview.
The decision came a day after Trump delivered an ultimatum to lawmakers — and represented multiple failures for the new president and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).
The decision means the Affordable Care Act remains in place, at least for now, and a major GOP campaign promise goes unfulfilled.
Read the full story: House Republican leaders abruptly pull their rewrite of the nation’s health-care law
The Chicago Tribune adds:
What happens next is unclear, but the path ahead on other priorities, such as overhauling the tax code, can only grow more daunting.
And Trump is certain to be weakened politically, a big early congressional defeat adding to the continuing inquiries into his presidential campaign's Russia connections and his unfounded wiretapping allegations against Obama.
Read that story here: Trump, GOP leaders abruptly pull health care bill in stunning defeat
But USA Today takes a different view:
He tweeted it in 2011: “Know when to walk away from the table."
That’s precisely what President Trump did on the Republican legislation largely repealing and replacing Obamacare. He shut down negotiations Thursday night and on Friday, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., pulled the bill from consideration.
While conventional wisdom might say might say it was akin to a loss on his first legislative push as president, political operatives and analysts say Trump and his fortunes have rarely lined up with convention. ...
Helmut Norpoth, a political science professor at Stony Brook University — and one of the few to predict Trump’s win last year — said he also believes the fate of the bill doesn’t presage the failure of the rest of his legislative agenda, and Trump may be better off moving on to his next priority, a tax overhaul.
Read that story right here: Despite folding on health care, Trump may have strength for rest of agenda.
