iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The House of Representatives is set to decide Friday whether to push Republican leaders’ plan to repeal and replace Obamacare through to the Senate.
After House GOP leaders postponed a vote Thursday when it was clear there would not be enough “yeses” to ensure the bill’s passage, the White House delivered a late-night ultimatum: Vote Friday or the president is prepared to move on to other business.
A GOP aide tells ABC News that White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told Republican legislators if the House doesn’t act on Friday, the president is prepared to leave the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, in place.
It’s a move right out of the president’s own book, The Art of the Deal.
In the meantime, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office expects that the first procedural votes on the legislation will come between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. and that a House vote on passing the bill will occur as soon as late Friday afternoon.
But, negotiations over the bill are ongoing, and it remains unclear if the House GOP leadership will be able to persuade enough of their party’s lawmakers to vote “yes.”
This bill needs no less than 216 “yes” votes to pass the House, although it’s possible that number could drop to 215, as at least one Democrat might be absent for the vote.
Trump Friday morning tweeted that “after seven horrible years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!”
The president also Friday morning called out the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative group of lawmakers that is opposing the bill unless amendments are made, suggesting that without the GOP bill, the women’s health care and family-planning organization Planned Parenthood would not be subject to funding cuts.
The irony is that the Freedom Caucus, which is very pro-life and against Planned Parenthood, allows P.P. to continue if they stop this plan!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2017
Asked Friday morning on ABC News’ Good Morning America, if the bill has enough votes to pass, Mulvaney could not say for certain.
“Don’t know,” Mulvaney said. “That’s up to the House to count their own votes.”
At least 32 Republicans had said they would oppose the bill, according to ABC News’ latest count. Because the GOP needs 216 votes for a simple majority to pass the bill in the House, it can afford to lose only 20 or 21 Republican votes, depending on whether all Democratic members are present, to move the legislation.
And even if the bill passes the House, its future in the Senate is unclear.
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