On Thursday, President Donald Trump passed down an ultimatum to Republicans: either pass the health care bill by Friday or live with Obamacare. If the bill isn’t passed, the president said, he will simply move on to other things and leave Obamacare as it is.
“The president said tomorrow there will be a vote,” Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) told The New York Post. “It’s a vote to maintain ObamaCare or it’s a vote to get rid of Obamacare,” Collins said. “If he can’t get the votes tomorrow he’ll never get the votes, so it’s time to move on.”
The bill was supposed to come to a vote on Thursday but was delayed because Republicans feared they did not have enough votes. It had been scheduled on Thursday symbolically on the anniversary of the passage of Obamacare.
Many conservative Republicans have blasted the bill as “Obamacare lite,” even after concessions were made ending rules that insurance would be required to cover “essential benefits” like hospitalization and pregnancy. But even those concessions might not sway the most conservative members, and what’s more, moderate members may still vote no because of concerns that the bill does not cover enough people.
But Trump is pressuring Republicans to act, telling them to either pass the bill or move on and promising to start on tax reform and immigration if this bill doesn’t go through.
“This is the only train leaving the station,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told Fox News Thursday night.