*Republican leadership has decided to pull their Obamacare replacement bill at the last minute at the request of President Donald Trump, according to reports.
According to several reports, Trump called Speaker of the House Speaker Paul Ryan at 3 p.m. to tell him to pull the bill. Ryan, however, said this afternoon that he suggested to the president that the bill be pulled.
“This is a setback, no two ways about it,” Ryan told reporters in a post-defeat press conference.
The vote would have come after House GOP leaders postponed a vote Thursday and the White House delivered a late-night ultimatum: either vote yes today or the president is moving on to other agenda items.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the GOP leadership and the White House had continued to pick up “yes” votes throughout the day.
Apparently, not enough.
The White House insisted in recent days that there was no Plan B for the legislation and that the president was all in on the measure, which had been amended amid concerns from moderate and conservative Republicans.
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney had earlier told Republican legislators if the House doesn’t act today, the president is prepared to leave the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, in place, a GOP aide told ABC News.
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