President Donald Trump told a gathering of social conservatives Friday that the repeal of Obamacare will have to go through a “different route,” due to Republican congressmen failing to remember “their pledges.”
Republican lawmakers largely campaigned on promises to repeal and replace President Obama’s signature health care legislation, but have failed to do so despite control of both legislative chambers.
Trump has had to resort to using the extent of his executive power to dismantle Obamacare, and announced Thursday the end of a critical subsidy to insurance companies, a day after signing an executive order to encourage promotion of low-cost health insurance plans.
“You saw what we did yesterday with respect to health care. It’s step by step by step. And that was a very big step yesterday. Another big step was taken the day before yesterday. And one by one, it’s going to come down and we are going to have great health care in our country,” Trump said at the Values Voter Summit in Washington. “We’re taking a little different route than we had hoped because getting Congress…they forgot what their pledges were. So we’re going a little different route, but you know what? In the end, it’s going to be just as effective and maybe it will even be better.”
WATCH
Trump’s frustration with his Republican counterparts in Congress is nothing new.
“When I ran, I was told I’d have a bill on my desk. I’d sign it day one.” Trump said during an August appearance on an Alabama radio show. “Now when it matters because you have a president who’s actually going to sign it, they don’t do it. And they pander, and they grandstand.”