House GOP will head home for two-week break without a health-care deal

After a flurry of negotiations this week, the Republican "Zombie TrumpCare" bill is "dead, killed off by House Republicans who never actually read the legislation — because in fact, it never actually existed," The New York Times reports. House Republicans leave for a two-week Easter break on Thursday afternoon, and despite a last-ditch push by Vice President Mike Pence to sell a new set of proposals to hard-right Republicans this week, there was no breakthrough.

"There's no suggestion we should be changing our flights," Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) told The Associated Press. "We're going home ... without a deal." House Republicans are still considering an emergency House Rules Committee meeting on Thursday, Politico reports, but expectations are very low and there is no health-care vote on the schedule. On Wednesday night, Republicans and conservative groups were mostly blaming other GOP factions for the new failure to come up with a workable compromise. The first bill, the American Health Care Act, was pulled before a vote it was certain to lose. The health-care fight has highlighted fractures in the GOP coalition, but it has apparently given a sizable boost to the law the AHCA seeks to replace, the Affordable Care Act, which is hitting new highs in opinion polls.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up