Epic collapse of GOP health care bill puts effort into limbo

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans passed roughly 60 bills over the past six year dismembering President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. They knew the measures would go nowhere with the Democrat still in the White House.

With a bill that counted Friday, they choked. It was an epic, self-inflicted collapse that leaves the effort dead for now.

The drive represented the GOP’s first genuine opportunity to repeal Obama’s statute. That’s because President Donald Trump is serving alongside a Congress controlled by the GOP.

But House Speaker Paul Ryan shelved the bill to avert a certain defeat. He faced defections from centrist Republicans who thought the bill went too far and conservatives who considered it too weak, plus solid Democratic opposition.

Ryan says he believes Obama’s law will continue “for the foreseeable future.”