News

House Republicans, short of votes, withdraw health care bill

WASHINGTON — House Republicans withdrew the health care bill off the House floor, short of the votes needed to pass.

SCROLL TO HEAR FROM SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE PAUL RYAN

"I am not going to sugarcoat - this is a disappointing day for us," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

Ryan, withdrew the legislation after President Donald Trump called him and asked him to halt debate without a vote, according to Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong.

"Are we willing to say yes to the good - the very good - even if it's not perfect?" Ryan asked rhetorically about the bill during a news conference.

Prior to the decision to withdraw the vote, Spokesman Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump is confident that the White House has done "every single thing possible" to corral the 216 votes needed to pass legislation to repeal the Obama-era health care law. Ryan conceded that they were close, but fell short on Friday. He maintained the quality of the bill and repeatedly said that "Obamacare" will fail.

"I am really proud of the bill we produced...the worst is yet to come with Obamacare," he said.

WATCH LIVE

WATCH LIVE: Paul Ryan explains House Republicans' decision to pull health care bill at last minute.

Posted by Boston 25 News on Friday, March 24, 2017

The plan was controversial for several reasons, with Democrats and some veterans groups saying a provision of the Republican health care bill could raise costs for millions of veterans who use tax credits to buy private insurance.

On Friday afternoon, Sen. Elizabeth Warren had called the bill a "stinker."

Massachusetts representatives tweeted in celebration after the announcement that the bill was pulled.

Ryan said that he doesn't think this foreshadows what's to come with the rest of the Republican agenda.

"We have big, ambitious plans to improve people's lives in this country," said Ryan.

He said he still had confidence in the House whips, who are in charge of corralling votes.