--- title: AHCA: GOP Pulls Health Care Bill Due to Lack of Support description: Republican lawmakers on Friday pulled the healthcare reform bill that had been presented to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act canonical: https://time.com/4712883/ahca-paul-ryan-donald-trump-no-vote-obamacare/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-24T19:48:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T10:20:44.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: House Republicans Withdraw Health Care Bill Due to Lack of Support og:description: They didn't have the votes og:url: https://time.com/4712883/ahca-paul-ryan-donald-trump-no-vote-obamacare/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d420ede08e0f1f7/6988bfd3f887dc6e05e99923/ryan-paul.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: House Republicans Postpone Vote On American Health Care Act og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: House Republicans Withdraw Health Care Bill Due to Lack of Support twitter:description: They didn't have the votes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d420ede08e0f1f7/6988bfd3f887dc6e05e99923/ryan-paul.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # House Republicans Withdraw Health Care Bill Due to Lack of Support > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=94c0460c-d16b-4574-b159-997b89ea5f04&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Paul Ryan Addresses Pulling Health Care Reform Bill [Watch (HLS stream): Paul Ryan Addresses Pulling Health Care Reform Bill](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pdwd3wH4.m3u8) (1:51)  _Published 2017-03-24. Republican lawmakers on Friday pulled the health care reform bill they had presented as a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, abandoning the plan after it became clear they lacked the votes for it to pass._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:20 AM UTCPublished: Mar 24, 2017 7:48 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:20 AM UTCPublished: Mar 24, 2017 7:48 PM UTC Republican lawmakers on Friday pulled the health care reform bill they had presented as a [replacement for the Affordable Care Act](http://time.com/4697086/threat-of-obamacare-repeal-motivates-patients-to-become-activists/), abandoning the plan after it became clear they lacked the [votes for it to pass](http://time.com/4712627/ahca-republicans-fall-short-votes/). “Obamacare is the law of the land. It’s going to remain the law of the land until it’s replaced,” Republican House Speaker [Paul Ryan](http://time.com/4706242/paul-ryan-health-care-compromise/) said at a press conference Friday afternoon, admitting that Republicans had —at least temporarily — tabled their long-held campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law. “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.” Ryan affirmed his support for the failed bill, calling it a “dramatic improvement in our healthcare system,” but he said that, lacking consensus, he felt the best step was to withdraw the bill and figure out what else could be done. “This is a setback — no two ways about it — but it is not the end of this story,” Ryan said. Ryan visited the White House on Friday to tell Trump he lacked the votes to pass the controversial bill, which faced opposition from Democrats as well as many Republicans and health organizations. Trump issued an ultimatum to Republicans on Thursday, warning that they needed to pass their healthcare plan now or he would move on to other policy priorities. “We just pulled it,” Trump said in a telephone interview Friday with the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-leaders-prepare-to-vote-friday-on-health-care-reform/2017/03/24/736f1cd6-1081-11e7-9d5a-a83e627dc120%5Fstory.html?hpid=hp%5Fhp-banner-main%5Fhousevote715a-banner%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm%5Fterm=.57e799cdd086), adding that he didn’t blame Ryan. In an interview with the [New York _Times_](https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/845362688557486081), Trump faulted Democrats for the bill’s failure. Trump said he expects Democrats will seek a healthcare reform deal within a year when “Obamacare explodes” because of higher premiums, according to the _Times._ At Friday’s press conference, Ryan issued a similar warning. “What’s really troubling is the worst is yet to come with Obamacare,” he said. But Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi hailed the announcement as “a victory for the American people.” Asked whether the healthcare failure is a sign of future problems awaiting the Republican Party, Ryan said he was confident Republicans would be able to generate consensus around other issues in their agenda, specifically identifying border security, military strength and tax reform. “Yes, this does make tax reform more difficult, but it does not make it impossible,” he said. ## Transcript Farther consideration of HR1628 is postponed. Pursuant to calls 12A of rule one, the chair declares the house in recess subject to the call of the chair. We came really close today, but we came up short. I spoke to the president just a little while ago and I told him the best thing I think to do is pull this bill and he agreed with that decision. I will not sugar coat this, this is a disappointing day for us. Doing big things is hard, all of us, all of us, myself included, we will need time to reflect on how we got to this moment. What are could have done to do it better. But ultimately, this all kinda comes down to a choice. Are all of us willing to give a little to get something done? I'm really proud of the bill that we produced. It would make a dramatic improvement in our healthcare system, and provide relief by people hurting under Obamacare. And what's probably most troubling is the worst is yet to come With Obamacare. The President gave his all in this effort. He did everything he possibly could to help people see the opportunity that we have with this bill. He's really been fantastic. Still, we gotta do better and we will. I absolutely believe that. This is a set back, no two ways about it. But it is not the end of the story. Obamacare is the law of the land, it's gonna remain the law of the land until it's replaced. We did not have quite the votes to replace this law. And so yeah, we're gonna be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future. I don't know how long it's gonna take us to replace this law. My worry is Obamacare is gonna be getting even worse. Actually I think we were probably doing the Democrats a favor. I think we were doing the architects of Obama a favor. By passing this law before it gets even worse, well I guess that favor's not going to be given to them, and it's gonna get worse. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4712883/ahca-paul-ryan-donald-trump-no-vote-obamacare/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4712883/ahca-paul-ryan-donald-trump-no-vote-obamacare/"},"headline":"House Republicans Withdraw Health Care Bill Due to Lack of Support","datePublished":"2017-03-24T19:48:57.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T10:20:44.000Z","description":"They didn't have the votes","url":"https://time.com/4712883/ahca-paul-ryan-donald-trump-no-vote-obamacare/","keywords":["Congress","White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d420ede08e0f1f7/6988bfd3f887dc6e05e99923/ryan-paul.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d420ede08e0f1f7/6988bfd3f887dc6e05e99923/ryan-paul.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"House Republicans Postpone Vote On American Health Care Act","caption":"House Republicans Postpone Vote On American Health Care Act","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4712883/ahca-paul-ryan-donald-trump-no-vote-obamacare/","name":"House Republicans Withdraw Health Care Bill Due to Lack of Support"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Paul Ryan Addresses Pulling Health Care Reform Bill","description":"Republican lawmakers on Friday pulled the health care reform bill they had presented as a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, abandoning the plan after it became clear they lacked the votes for it to pass.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/pdwd3wH4/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-24T20:49:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pdwd3wH4.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4712883/ahca-paul-ryan-donald-trump-no-vote-obamacare/","duration":"PT1M51S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4712883/ahca-paul-ryan-donald-trump-no-vote-obamacare/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```