A House Republican says he doesn’t see his party trying to repeal ObamaCare again for at least a year.
{mosads}”This is something that may need to put on the back burner … maybe next year to be dealt with,” Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) told The Hill.
Echoing Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) words from moments before, Reed said that “it’s clear votes aren’t there on repeal and replacement, so the bottom line is we’re going to have to continue with this policy of ObamaCare for foreseeable future.”
House Republicans leaving a brief closed-door meeting in the Capitol basement Friday afternoon appeared stunned by leadership’s decision to pull the American Health Care Act from the floor moments before an expected vote.
Asked about the GOP’s legislative agenda moving forward, Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) said: “Uncharted territory but it doesn’t bode well.”
“We were sent here to govern and we failed,” he added as he walked away from a gaggle of reporters.
Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) spoke about Ryan’s words to the House GOP conference behind closed doors.
“He said he had lunch with President Trump — he didn’t have the votes and he was not going to put members on the chopping block” so leaders pulled the bill, Jones recounted.
Watch the video above to hear the GOP lawmakers in their own words.