--- title: Mike Pence: Obamacare Repeal 'Ain't Over by a Long Shot' description: Vice President Mike Pence reaffirmed his party's intentions to repeal and replace Obamacare Friday night canonical: https://time.com/4888728/mike-pence-obamacare-repeal/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-05T13:34:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:52:37.340Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mike Pence on Health Care: 'This Ain't Over by a Long Shot' og:description: "We were not elected to save Obamacare — we were elected to repeal and replace it" og:url: https://time.com/4888728/mike-pence-obamacare-repeal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bb8cefadb9d9a70/6988d86bab6d77802d6af43d/gettyimages-821756702.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence introduces President Trump to make a statement on health care at The White House on July 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mike Pence on Health Care: 'This Ain't Over by a Long Shot' twitter:description: "We were not elected to save Obamacare — we were elected to repeal and replace it" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bb8cefadb9d9a70/6988d86bab6d77802d6af43d/gettyimages-821756702.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mike Pence on Health Care: 'This Ain't Over by a Long Shot' > 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=40e5253a-3d16-47e2-87ed-88c3285c42db&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Aug 5, 2017 1:34 PM UTC  U.S. Vice President Mike Pence introduces President Trump to make a statement on health care at The White House on July 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence introduces President Trump to make a statement on health care at The White House on July 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. Pool—Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Aug 5, 2017 1:34 PM UTC Vice President [Mike Pence](http://time.com/4886977/koch-brothers-mike-pence-taxes/) reaffirmed his party’s intentions to repeal and replace Obamacare Friday night, telling a group of conservative students in Washington, D.C. that the endeavor “ain’t over by a long shot.” “My fellow conservatives, let me be clear. This ain’t over. This ain’t over by a long shot,” Pence told attendees of the National Conservative Student Conference, hosted by the Young America Foundation, [according to CNN.](http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/04/politics/pence-health-care-speech/index.html) “And President Trump and I are absolutely committed to keep our promise to the American people. We were not elected to save Obamacare — we were elected to repeal and replace it.” More than a week prior to Pence’s speech, the Republican-led effort to repeal the health care policy [collapsed in the Senate](http://time.com/4877796/health-care-senate-john-mccain-susan-collins-lisa-murkowski/) after three GOP lawmakers — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and John McCain of Arizona — voted against their party’s proposal. The Senate has since left the chamber for its [August recess](http://time.com/4855525/august-recess-senate-history/), but Pence maintained that the legislative body was merely one vote away from repealing the Affordable Care Act. “Last week it was clear that the Senate wasn’t quite ready to keep that promise to the American people when they fell one vote short of moving forward on a bill to repeal and replace this disastrous policy,” Pence said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4888728/mike-pence-obamacare-repeal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4888728/mike-pence-obamacare-repeal/"},"headline":"Mike Pence on Health Care: 'This Ain't Over by a Long Shot'","datePublished":"2017-08-05T13:34:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:52:37.340Z","description":"The vice president reaffirmed his party's intentions to repeal and replace Obamacare","url":"https://time.com/4888728/mike-pence-obamacare-repeal/","keywords":["Health Care","Mike Pence","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bb8cefadb9d9a70/6988d86bab6d77802d6af43d/gettyimages-821756702.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bb8cefadb9d9a70/6988d86bab6d77802d6af43d/gettyimages-821756702.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Vice President Mike Pence introduces President Trump to make a statement on health care at The White House on July 24, 2017 in Washington, DC.","caption":"U.S. Vice President Mike Pence introduces President Trump to make a statement on health care at The White House on July 24, 2017 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Pool—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/health-care/","name":"Health Care"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4888728/mike-pence-obamacare-repeal/","name":"Mike Pence on Health Care: 'This Ain't Over by a Long Shot'"}}]}] ```