The American Health Care Act is not popular with conservatives in the GOP. The House Freedom Caucus has voiced its many concerns about the bill, namely that it is Obamacare lite. It can only afford to lose 22 Republican votes and as of Friday morning it stands to lose many more.
How House Republicans are planning to vote on the Obamacare replacement https://t.co/LrvPEeSNZH pic.twitter.com/NN9h1lEzin
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 24, 2017
The vote was supposed to take place last night but the uncertainty convinced House Speaker Paul Ryan to delay the vote to Friday. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price dismissed the unfortunate context as "palace intrigue" in a CNN interview on Friday, just hours before the vote.
“That’s palace intrigue,” Price told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota when she asked whether the bill had enough support to make it through the House in a vote scheduled Friday. “And It’s important – you have to have the votes to pass these things. But it’s important that we continue to keep focus on the people of this land, the patients across this land.”
Price, who called himself an "eternal optimist," said he fully expects the bill to pass. So too does White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who told reporters at Thursday's press briefing that he did not even entertain the possibility of failure because there is no Plan B.
President Trump told his staff on Thursday to tell lawmakers he is done negotiating. If they don't come to an agreement and vote for the bill, the president will walk away from it and Obamacare will remain law.