Will Trump Force Ryan To Take Trumpcare Vote Knowing It Will Go Down

It appears that Trumpcare is dead. Representative Freylinghausen who is a member of the leadership as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has come out as a no vote. The leadership is virtually required to vote the party line unless there is an overriding issue for his/her district and the party already has enough votes to pass. Now Barbara Comstock, one of those GOP members from a district that Clinton carried, has also taken her fist position on the bill and it is a no.

Paul Ryan is currently meeting with Trump. My guess is that he is informing Trump that the votes are not there. The question is whether Trump will continue to demand a vote, simply to put Republicans on the record. That has been his approach since he cut off negotiations last night. Ryan would be in a difficult position if Trump demands the vote be taken. Whichever way his members vote, it will potentially be a vote that could hurt them next year, especially when it is clear the bill isn’t going anywhere. The easiest way out for Republicans in the House is not have a vote at all. That way they could spin the failure whatever way works best for them without having taken a real position.

The prudent thing for Trump, would be to pull the vote. But we can’t account for the irrationality of Trump and his inability to deal with failure. He campaigned on repeal and replace. He claimed he was the closer. Forcing the House to take a vote will give him an easy target for blame.