Nearly an hour before the members of the House of Representatives were scheduled vote on the American Health Care Act, replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act, House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the bill.
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The bill had been scrutinized by the Republican representatives in the House Freedom Caucus, as well as Republican senators and several prominent conservative groups. President Trump and other members of his administration met with the caucus to strike a compromise, but their stance was largely unmoved.
Trump said that he was “disappointed” and “a little surprised” by the caucus’s actions after the bill had been pulled:
POTUS says he doesn't feel betrayed by House Freedom Caucus: "I'm disappointed, but they're friends of mine…they're very good people." pic.twitter.com/UURe1qXC7H
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 24, 2017
RELATED:Â One representative is resigning from the House Freedom Caucus over the GOP health care bill
On Twitter, Trump accused the bill’s opponents — who criticized it for being “Obamacare-lite” and “Obamacare 2.0” — of saving Planned Parenthood and Obamacare:
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/845974102619906048
“Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & [Obamacare]!” he tweeted.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who is not himself a member of the Freedom Caucus but works very closely with its members as a libertarian-leaning Republican, addressed the president’s tweet:
I take it GOP leadership still hasn't told Trump the PP provision was a 1yr bait and switch? See page 23 of CBO https://t.co/O9cGKQeqzb https://t.co/yKVPG1UvHe
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 26, 2017
“I take it GOP leadership still hasn’t told Trump the [Planned Parenthood] provision was a 1yr bait and switch? See page 23 of CBO,” Massie said, linking to the Congressional Budget Office’s report on the proposed bill’s temporary effect on Planned Parenthood’s federal funding.
Massie has since spent time explaining why he voted against the Republican-backed health care bill: