How Obamacare Could Take Down Trump

Trump re-upping his efforts to repeal the ACA might be a fatal political error

Last week was the 14-year anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act. That was supposed to end President Obama’s grueling year-long effort to enact health care reform. But it was not the end. After taking over Congress, House Republicans tried dozens of times to overturn the law. Repealing Obamacare, as it came to be known, was a central plank of Mitt Romney’s effort to unseat Obama in 2012. The law barely survived two Supreme Court challenges. In 2019, Trump came within one Senate vote of finally achieving the Right Wing fantasy of repealing Barack Obama’s signature achievement.

After that failure, Republicans seemingly relented and moved on from Obamacare. It was an afterthought in the 2020 campaign. President Biden entered office and strengthened the law, making it more affordable, more accessible and that much more politically painful to repeal.

Trying to repeal Obamacare has cost the Republicans multiple elections and it could cost them the 2024 election too.

The Fight is Not Over

Proving for the umpteenth time that he is not a political genius, Trump revived his push to take access to health care from millions of Americans. In November he “Truthed” about his determination to repeal the law if he returned to the White House:

Last week, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) released their budget, which included plans to gut the ACA. The RSC are a serious policy engine in the Republican House and their plans undoubtedly inform the agenda of a future Trump Administration.