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REUTERS
WASHINGTON
US House Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday acknowledged the unthinkable for a Republican leader: he could not deliver the votes to repeal and replace Obamacare, even though he and his fellow Republicans had vowed to do so for seven years.
Nevertheless, Ryan's job did not seem to be under immediate threat, at least not in the House of Representatives he leads.
Ryan's long-time news media nemesis, the website Breitbart, said Republicans were"openly discussing"finding a replacement for him after he pulled a bill to roll back Obamacare from the House floor just minutes before an intensely awaited final vote. The Breitbart article did not quote anyone by name.
In the House, just after the bill was pulled, several lawmakers brushed aside suggestions that the failure spelled trouble for Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice presidential candidate, who many have speculated has presidential ambitions.
Ryan, 47, has been speaker since October 2015. Under the law, he is next in line to the presidency after Vice President Mike Pence.
Republican Representative Justin Amash, a harsh critic of the ill-fated healthcare bill, told reporters,"We can do better with the legislative process."But, he added,"Nobody is talking about"trying to oust Ryan as speaker.
Amash had disparagingly dubbed the Republican healthcare bill"Obamacare 2.0,"after Democratic former President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement, the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.
