ELECTION/GOP/HEALTHCARE/MITCH MCCONNELL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump backed off plans to introduce a Republican replacement for the Affordable Care Act after Senator Mitch McConnell privately warned him that the Senate would not revisit health care in a comprehensive way before the November 2020 elections. Reversing himself in the face of Republican consternation, Mr. Trump said his party would not produce a health care plan of its own, as he had promised, until after the elections, meaning he will only try to fulfill his first-term promise to repeal and replace his predecessor’s signature program if he wins a second term. The president’s abrupt about-face, announced on Twitter on Monday [4-1-19] night after talking with Mr. McConnell, all but ensured that health care will take a central place in next year’s campaign, elevating an issue Democrats consider one of their strengths. But it may take the legislative heat off Republicans exasperated by Mr. Trump’s unexpected push to devise a wholesale replacement for President Barack Obama’s health law in the coming months.”
–Robert Pear and Maggie Haberman, “Trump Retreats on Health Care After McConnell Warns It Won’t Happen,” The New York Times online, April 2, 2019