Ryan reverses course, will continue Obamacare repeal and replace effort
— -- In the wake of the defeat of the GOP overhaul of Affordable Care Act, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that Obamacare was the "law of the land ... for the foreseeable future" and that health care would be set aside as Republicans work toward tax reform this fall.
But in a reversal, Ryan — who called his legislation, the American Health Care Act, "fundamentally flawed" — told donors Monday that the effort to roll back the ACA is not over yet.
"We are going to keep getting at this thing," he said, according to a recording obtained by The Washington Post. "We're not going to just all of a sudden abandon health care and move on to the rest. We are going to move on with rest of our agenda, keep that on track, while we work the health care problem."
"We still have a promise to keep, so the speaker wants members to continue discussing this issue until we can find a path ahead," Doug Andres, a spokesman for Ryan, said in an email, confirming the intent behind the quotes reported by the Post.
The Post also reported that Ryan suggested a plan was being developed in time to brief donors at a retreat scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Florida.
