Trump healthcare plan: Where does the president's 2020 campaign stand?

Democrats are slamming the president for holding 'Americans hostage through the 2020 election on health care'

Donald Trump is backing down from his aggressive calls to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act just one week after his administration sided with the a federal court ruling arguing for it to be strike down entirely.

In a series of manic tweets on Monday, President Trump is asking for Republicans to hold off on voting on a plan to replace and repeal former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative milestone — or at least, until after the 2020 presidential election.

“The Republicans are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare,” the president tweeted. “In other words it will be far less expensive & much more usable than ObamaCare. Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House.”

The announcement signals a sudden shift in Mr Trump’s strategy after one week of rallying his party to position health care as their key issue in their 2020 election campaigns.

It is a similar strategy played by Democrats during the 2018 midterm elections, where candidates made health care a top issue in their campaigns. The results paid off: The party took back control of the House of Representatives.

Last week, the president urged the Justice Department to weigh in on the ongoing legal battle that could possibly repeal the Affordable Care Act. The administration sided with a conservative judge’s ruling that the entire healthcare law should be strike down in its entirety, arguing that it is unconstitutional.

It’s predicted the lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act could reach the Supreme Court as soon as next year.

Some Republicans are startled with Mr Trump slowing down their fight to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, citing concerns that there will be no replacement to the healthcare protecting millions of Americans currently receiving medical coverage under the plan.

The White House attempted to qualm those concerns by insisting that a plan is currently coming together.

Mr Trump also repeatedly promised that “The Republican Party will become ‘The Party of Healthcare!’”

Democrats aren’t very pleased with the president’s game plan on the Affordable Care Act.

“President Trump confirmed he will hold Americans hostage through the 2020 election on health care,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, said at a press conference outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Adding, Republicans “have no health care plan,” and that “It’s the same old song they’ve been singing. They’re for repeal, they have no replace.”

The New York Democrat slammed Mr Trump’s attempt to rebrand the Republican party as one that is dedicated to health care.

“Don’t let President Trump fool you,” Mr Schumer added. “They are not the party of health care. They are the party that wants to end health care.”

He noted that some of the consequences from the president’s political move on the Affordable Care Act would include higher premiums, higher prescription drug prices and rising costs of care for women and the elderly.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi echoed similar statements to Mr Schumer, saying that the top Democratic leaders are standing together to “condemn what the president did.”

She added that the Trump administration does “not believe in public policy that affects the good health of the American people.”

The House is expected to vote on a resolution that would condemn the Trump administration’s “legal campaign to take away Americans’ health care” on Wednesday.