WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The collapse of Republicans’ push to repeal and replace Obamacare in the U.S. Senate set up a possible repeal-only vote and clouded the path forward for President Donald Trump’s other domestic policy goals, rattling financial markets on Tuesday.
After two Republicans said they would not back the latest Obamacare rollback bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) threw in the towel and was weighing a vote on simply repealing the 2010 healthcare law with no replacement.
After almost six months in office, Trump still has no major legislative achievements. As the Obamacare rollback collapsed in the Senate, his counterparts in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled a budget plan putting a proposed tax code overhaul on the same partisan procedural path that led to the anti-Obamacare initiative’s chaotic downfall late on Monday.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee (R-Ut.) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) joined colleagues Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in opposing the legislation to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, passed under Democratic former president Barack Obama. McConnell said in a statement, “Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful.”
Trump urged an outright repeal, even as other Republicans sought a shift toward bipartisanship with Democrats. The setback sent the U.S. dollar to a 10-month low against a basket of major currencies as investors worried about the impact on other administration reform efforts.
In an early morning Twitter message, Trump said, “We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific and worked really hard. We will return!”
In the face of full opposition from Democrats, Monday’s defections left Sen. McConnell without enough votes to pass the bill in the 100-member Senate.
Trump late Monday said Congress should “start from a clean slate” on a new plan that he said Democrats would join. On Tuesday morning, he put the blame on “all of the Democrats and a few Republicans.”
McConnell said he would try to bring repeal legislation to the Senate floor in coming days, but with a two-year delay in implementation to assure a smooth transition.
Democrats have remained united against Republican efforts to undo Obama’s signature domestic achievement that aimed to reduce the number of people without health insurance and help lower costs, even as they acknowledged changes were needed.
Late Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Republicans to start over and work with Democrats.