President Trump, elected on a promise to use his deal-making prowess to get Washington working, blinked Friday in the face of defeat, agreeing to halt a House vote on a GOP healthcare overhaul amid crumbling Republican support. To avoid an embarrassing vote, Trump asked House Speaker Paul D. Ryan to abandon the effort. Trump made a hard, last-minute push for the GOP bill. The conservative House Freedom Caucus wanted Trump and Ryan to go further and faster in unwinding Obamacare rules and taxes. Democrats stood firmly against the Republican bill, which GOP leaders had hoped to pass on Obamacare’s seventh anniversary this week.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 24, 2017 23:36 UTC