US President Donald Trump has blamed Democrats for the failure of his healthcare bill.
Both houses of Congress are controlled by Mr Trump’s Republican party but the bill was withdrawn on Friday because it could not get the votes required.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Mr Trump said “We couldn’t get one Democratic vote, and we were a little bit shy... so we pulled it.” The last-minute retraction is seen as a huge blow to the president. Repealing and replacing the healthcare programme known as Obamacare was one of his major election pledges.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said he and Mr Trump agreed to withdraw the vote, after it became apparent it would not get the minimum of 215 Republican votes needed. Republicans have a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
However, multiple reports suggested that between 28 and 35 Republicans were opposed to President Trump’s draft American Health Care Act (AHCA).
Some were said to be unhappy that the bill cut health coverage too severely, while others felt the changes did not go far enough.
.-BBC