President Donald Trump has demanded a decision from the House of Representatives concerning a vote on whether to go on with the implementation of his proposed health care plan or a rejection of the bill altogether. The American Healthcare Act, serving President Trump’s campaign policy to repeal and replace Obamacare, has been modified over time only to replace certain aspects of the Obamacare law.
On Thursday, a vote on whether to pass the bill was delayed as a result of opposition from some members of the GOP. Following this occurrence, Trump reportedly warned Republicans that they had a choice between voting in support of the bill come Monday or having Obamacare remain as the primary healthcare regime during Trump’s tenure as President. The warning was allegedly made during a closed-door meeting that occurred in the White House.
Showing his support for the bill, Senator Paul Ryan said, “For seven-and-a-half years we have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because it’s collapsing and it’s failing families, and tomorrow we’re proceeding.”
Expressing his sentiments that the Trump administration would move on regardless of the vote made on Friday, Chris Collins said, “The president has said he wants a vote tomorrow, up or down. If for any reason it is down, we are just going to move forward with additional parts of his agenda.” Mr. Collins is the Republican representative for New York.
Despite these sentiments of continuity, a vote against the bill would be a major setback for the President. Providing a suitable Obamacare replacement had been a key policy in President Trump’s campaign. However, implementing the American Healthcare Act has proved a daunting task following conflicts within Republican flanks over what draft of the bill would be passed in Congress. Members of the GOP had been unable to reach a consensus since for some; the new policies were too extreme. On the other hand, the policies in a different draft of the bill were regarded as not making enough changes, causing the bill to be nicknamed “Obamacare Lite.”
Trump needs a vote count of 215 Republicans in support of the bill. If 22 members of the GOP vote against the bill, it will be stopped in its tracks. So far, no Democrats have shown support for the implementation of the Obamacare replacement. A tally by the Associated Press revealed that 28 Republicans were against the bill’s implementation.
Having the vote postponed on Thursday was a major setback for the President. This is because he had consistently insisted that he would get enough numbers in support of the bill that day and would have had it head on to the Upper Chamber of Congress afterward.
The Trump administration is hoping that the issuing of this ultimatum to members of the Republican party will force those who were previously against it to vote for it rather than remain with Obamacare. Currently, conservative Republicans are against the bill. They cite their reason for opposing this legislation as the fact that there is an insufficient change from Obama’s health care law.
