Paul Ryan says he's already set to tackle health care again, and GOP donors will get a first look

Maybe rumors of the American Health Care Act's death were exaggerated a bit. After House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) pulled the bill on Friday because his broadly unpopular health-care overhaul plan didn't have enough Republican votes to pass, he called ObamaCare "the law of the land" for the visible future and the White House said it is ready to move on to tax reform and other issues. On Monday afternoon, however, Ryan told a group of donors that he will continue to push forward on health care "on two tracks," as the GOP pursues other parts of its agenda, according to The Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the call.

House Republicans have sent mixed messages as to whether they will try to tinker with the AHCA or start over, and Ryan did not divulge any details to his political operation's donors. But he said he plans to outline his plans to Republican donors at a retreat in Florida on Thursday and Friday. "When we're in Florida, I will lay out the path forward on health care and all the rest of the agenda," Ryan said. "I will explain how it all still works, and how we're still moving forward on health care with other ideas and plans.... It will be good to look at what can feasibly get done and where things currently stand. But know this: We are not giving up."

Ryan laid blame for the AHCA's defeat on members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, not mentioning at least 25 other House GOP members who said they would vote no, too. He said he met with President Trump on Monday and separately with Vice President Mike Pence, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, describing his relationship with the White House as closer than ever. "We're not going to just all of a sudden abandon health care and move on to the rest," he said. "It's just that valuable, that important." Ryan had counted on the AHCA tax cuts to allow him to cut taxes deeper and more permanently later in the year.

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