Updated 10:30 a.m. Tuesday
After seven years of promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republican efforts at passing a health care bill on their own may have ended Monday night as the bill working its way through the Senate was effectively blocked. Two more GOP senators -- Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas -- came out in opposition to the bill, which means it cannot get enough support to pass.
My colleague @SenMikeLee and I will not support the MTP to this version of BCRA. #HealthcareBill
— Jerry Moran (@JerryMoran) July 18, 2017
Shortly afterward, President Trump wrote, "Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!"
Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2017
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put out a statement promising to do just that, pointing to a 2015 bill passed by Congress and vetoed by President Barack Obama. It would repeal the ACA with a two-year delay, giving a fixed deadline for Congress to replace the law. McConnell would still need 50 votes to bring that to the floor.
McConnell has previously said turning to Democrats to come up with fixes for the current health care system is his next step, and several senators who criticized the crafting of the current bill in private have called for such a bipartisan process.