WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leaders postponed a vote on a healthcare overhaul on Tuesday after resistance from members of their own party, and President Donald Trump summoned Republican senators to the White House to urge them to break the impasse.

The delay put the future of a longtime top Republican priority in doubt amid concerns about the Senate bill from both moderate and conservative Republicans. With Democrats united in their opposition, Republicans can afford to lose only two votes among their own ranks in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had been pushing for a vote ahead of the July 4 recess that starts at the end of the week. The legislation would repeal major elements of Obamacare and shrink the Medicaid government healthcare program for the poor.

“We’re going to press on,” McConnell said after announcing the delay, adding that leaders would keep working to make senators “comfortable” with the bill. “We’re optimistic we’re going to get to a result that is better than the status quo.”

At the White House meeting with most of the 52 Republican senators, Trump said it was vital to reach agreement on the Senate healthcare measure because Obamacare was “melting down.”

“So we’re going to talk and we’re going to see what we can do. We’re getting very close,” Trump told the senators. But he added, “If we don’t get it done, it’s just going to be something that we’re not going to like, and that’s okay.”

McConnell, whose party has a razor-thin majority in the 100-member Senate, told reporters that Republican leaders would work through the week to win over the 50 senators needed to pass the bill, with a vote planned after the recess. Vice President Mike Pence could provide the crucial vote needed to break a tie.

Related Coverage Top Senate Republican expresses optimism on healthcare bill after Trump meeting

“I think we can get 50 votes to yes by the end of the week,” Republican Senator Roger Wicker said after the White House meeting.

REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION GROWS

The House of Representatives last month passed its own version of a healthcare bill, but the Senate bill has been criticized from both the left and the right. Moderate Republicans worried millions of people would lose their insurance. Conservatives said the bill does not do enough to erase Obamacare.

The bill’s prospects were not helped by a Congressional Budget Office analysis on Monday saying it would cause 22 million Americans to lose insurance over the next decade, although it would reduce the federal deficit by $321 billion over that period.

The report prompted Senator Susan Collins, a Republican moderate, to say she could not support the bill as it stands. At least four conservative Republican senators said they were still opposed after the CBO analysis.

Three more Republicans, Rob Portman of Ohio, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, said after the delay was announced that they oppose the current draft.

Portman and Capito cited the bill’s Medicaid cutbacks and how that would hurt efforts to combat the opioid epidemic that has taken a heavy toll in their states. The Medicaid program was expanded under former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Senate Republicans about healthcare in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 27, 2017. Trump is flanked by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

“I think giving time to digest is a good thing,” Republican Senator Bob Corker said after the delay was announced.

“UNCERTAINTY” ON WALL STREET

U.S. stock prices fell, as the decision to postpone the vote added to investor worries about Trump’s ability to deliver on his promises of tax reform and deregulation, as well as changes to the health sector. Those expected changes have driven a rally in U.S. stocks this year.

The benchmark S&P; 500 index closed down 0.8 percent, and the Dow Jones industrial average finished down 0.46 percent.

“The market likes certainty and now there’s uncertainty. What is this going to look like when this gets out of the next iteration?” said Peter Costa, president of trading firm Empire Executions Inc.

Passing the measure would be a win for Trump as he seeks to shift attention after weeks of questions over Russia’s role in last year’s U.S. presidential election.

McConnell has promised since 2010 that Republicans, who view Obamacare as a costly government intrusion, would destroy the law “root and branch” if they controlled Congress and the White House. Republicans worry a failure to deliver will cost them votes in next year’s congressional elections.

If the Senate passes a healthcare bill, it will either have to be approved by the House or the two chambers would reconcile the differences in a conference committee. Otherwise, the House could pass a new version and send it back to the Senate.

Slideshow (12 Images)

Lawmakers are expected to leave town by Friday for their July 4 holiday break, which runs all next week. The Senate returns to work on July 10, the House on July 11. Lawmakers then have three weeks in session before their month-long August recess.

(This story corrects Dow Jones industrial average’s percent loss in 16th paragraph.)</s>By ERICA WERNER and ALAN FRAM

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate GOP leaders abruptly shelved their long-sought health care overhaul Tuesday, asserting they can still salvage it but raising new doubts about whether President Donald Trump and the Republicans will ever deliver on their promises to repeal and replace “Obamacare.”

Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced a delay for any voting at a closed-door senators’ lunch also attended by Vice President Mike Pence. McConnell’s tone was matter-of-fact, according those present, yet his action amounts to a stinging setback for the longtime Senate leader who had developed the legislation largely in secret as Trump hung back in deference.

Now Trump seems likely to push into the discussion more directly, and he immediately invited Senate Republicans to the White House. But the message he delivered to them before reporters were ushered out of the room was not entirely hopeful.

“This will be great if we get it done, and if we don’t get it done it’s just going to be something that we’re not going to like, and that’s OK and I understand that very well,” he told the senators, who surrounded him at tables arranged in a giant square in the East Room. Most wore grim expressions.

In the private meeting that followed, said Marco Rubio of Florida, the president spoke of “the costs of failure, what it would mean to not get it done — the view that we would wind up in a situation where the markets will collapse and Republicans will be blamed for it and then potentially have to fight off an effort to expand to single payer at some point.”

The bill has many critics and few outspoken fans on Capitol Hill. It was short of support heading toward a critical procedural vote on Wednesday, and prospects for changing that are uncertain. McConnell promised to revisit the legislation after Congress’ July 4 recess.

“It’s a big complicated subject, we’ve got a lot discussions going on, and we’re still optimistic we’re going to get there,” McConnell told reporters after the lunch.

It hasn’t been easy, as adjustments to placate conservatives, who want the legislation to be more stringent, only push away moderates who think its current limits — on Medicaid for example — are too strong.

In the folksy analysis of John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate GOP vote-counter: “Every time you get one bullfrog in the wheelbarrow, another one jumps out.”

McConnell has scant margin for error in the closely divided Senate, and the legislation to eliminate Obamacare’s mandates and unwind its Medicaid expansion has shed support practically from the moment it was unveiled last Thursday. By Tuesday morning at least five GOP senators had announced their opposition to a procedural vote on the bill, and after McConnell announced the delay several more went public with their criticism.

McConnell can lose only two senators from his 52-member caucus and still pass the bill, with Pence to cast a tie-breaking vote. Democrats are unanimously opposed, and in recent days they have stepped up protests, delivering speeches on the Senate floor for hours and holding vigils on the Capitol steps.

Medical groups are nearly unanimously opposed, too, along with the AARP, though the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports the bill.

A number of GOP governors oppose the legislation, especially in states that have expanded the Medicaid program for the poor under former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Opposition from Nevada’s popular Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval helped push GOP Sen. Dean Heller, who is vulnerable in next year’s midterms, to denounce the legislation last Friday; Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich held an event at the National Press Club Tuesday to criticize it.

But the Republicans’ own divisions are what has stymied them.

In one illustration, an outside political group run by Trump allies has run ads against Heller and threatens more against other GOP senators opposed to the bill. That infuriated McConnell, who called White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to label the attacks “beyond stupid.” Heller himself raised the issue in the Tuesday White House meeting, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota told reporters later. The group took down the ads Tuesday night.

The House went through its own struggles with its version of the bill, pulling it from the floor short of votes before reviving it and narrowly passing it in May. So it’s quite possible that the Senate Republicans can rise from this week’s setback.

But McConnell is finding it difficult to satisfy demands from his diverse caucus. Conservatives like Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah argue that the legislation doesn’t go far enough in repealing Obamacare. But moderates like Heller and Susan Collins of Maine criticize the bill as overly punitive in throwing people off insurance roles and limiting benefits paid by Medicaid, which has become the nation’s biggest health care program, covering nursing home care for seniors as well as care for many poor Americans.

GOP defections increased after the Congressional Budget Office said Monday the measure would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026 than Obama’s 2010 statute. McConnell told senators he wanted them to agree to a final version of the bill before the end of this week so they could seek a new analysis by the budget office. He said that would give lawmakers time to finish when they return to the Capitol for a three-week stretch in July before Congress’ summer break.

The 22 million extra uninsured Americans are just 1 million fewer than the number the budget office estimated would become uninsured under the House version. Trump has called the House bill “mean” and prodded senators to produce a package with more “heart.”

The budget office report said the Senate bill’s coverage losses would especially affect people between ages 50 and 64, before they qualify for Medicare, and with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty level, or around $30,300 for an individual.

The Senate plan would end the tax penalty the law imposes on people who don’t buy insurance, in effect erasing Obama’s so-called individual mandate, and on larger businesses that don’t offer coverage to workers.

It would let states ease Obama’s requirements that insurers cover certain specified services like substance abuse treatments. It also would eliminate $700 billion worth of taxes over a decade, largely on wealthier people and medical companies — money that Obama’s law used to expand coverage.

It would cut Medicaid, which provides health insurance to over 70 million poor and disabled people, by $772 billion through 2026 by capping its overall spending and phasing out Obama’s expansion of the program. Of the 22 million people losing health coverage, 15 million would be Medicaid recipients.

___

Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Ken Thomas, Andrew Taylor, Michael Biesecker and Julie Bykowicz contributed to this report.</s>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is aiming to send a revised version of his health care bill to the Congressional Budget Office by as soon as Friday, according to Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists.

The effort reflects the tight timeline McConnell faces in his attempt to hold a vote before the August recess – and the pressure he is under to make changes that improve the CBO’s measure of the bill’s impact on coverage levels and federal spending.

McConnell is trying to move quickly to produce a new CBO score by the time lawmakers return to Washington in mid-July, giving the Senate about two weeks to fulfill the majority leader’s goal of voting before the August recess.

McConnell and his aides plan to continue negotiations through the end of the week and will be in frequent communication with the CBO, according to McConnell spokesman David Popp.

It remains unclear exactly what parts of the Better Care Reconciliation Act are being revised – or whether McConnell is trying to move the measure to the right, with greater savings or regulatory adjustments, or to the left, with more coverage protections. McConnell needs to bring on board about nine Republican senators,including Susan Collins of Maine, who have said they wouldn’t vote for the billin its current form. Moving to the right would appease conservatives in the Senate – but also in the House, where any Senate bill would also have to pass.

Aides both at the White House and on Capitol Hill are aware of the effort, several Republican aides said Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss private talks. One aide described the situation as akin to the weeks leading up to the draft bill’s release, when McConnell presented chunks of the emerging legislation to CBO to expedite the scoring process. The aide expected Republican leaders to present tweaks to CBO for review as soon as this week.

Another aide said that after Tuesday’s meeting with President Trump at the White House, Republicans have a better sense now of what everyone wants. A draft is not yet ready, but the reworking process has begun.

Robert Costa, Kelsey Snell, Paul Kane and Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report.</s>According to a New York Times report.

After swearing up and down that the Senate would vote on the Republicans' giant tax cut for the wealthy before the 4th of July recess, Mitch McConnell glumly announced on Tuesday that he would, in fact, miss that deadline for want of the necessary number of votes. Less than 24 hours later, the Republican Party's blame game is already in full swing: According to The New York Times, the Senate majority leader has grown quite weary of dealing with a president who is this astonishingly bad at his job.

Yet over the past few weeks, the Senate Republican leadership has made it known that it would much rather negotiate with Mr. Pence than a president whose candidacy many did not even take seriously during the 2016 primaries. And some of the White House’s efforts have clearly been counterproductive.

So far, the Republican senator who has voiced the most strenuous objections to the bill is Nevada's Dean Heller, who faces a 2018 reelection bid in a state that (1) depends heavily on Medicaid spending, which Trumpcare would slash; (2) that Hillary Clinton won in 2016; and (3) that just elected a Democrat to the Senate in 2016. Dean Heller is understandably shook, and late last week he announced that he would not support the proposal, even going so far as to say that it is a "lie" that the bill lowers premiums. What happened next? America First, a super-PAC with close ties to Trump, spent $1 million dollars in attack ads targeting Heller—which, if you're Mitch McConnell and you're working hard to try and cajole just a few more reluctant Republican senators into the YES column, is a decidedly unwelcome development!

America First pulled the ads later that same day, ostensibly because Heller agreed to attend a strategy meeting at the White House along with the rest of the Republican senators, and definitely not because Mitch McConnell and other grown-up politicians told Donald Trump that his people were fucking everything up in spectacular fashion.

It doesn't really come as a surprise that the president, a man who has spent his entire life trying to convince people that being born into money and attaching his name to a line of overpriced hotels somehow makes him a successful businessman, isn't particularly skilled at the finer points of intra-party negotiation. The more delicious aspect of this story, though, is the image of Mitch McConnell, widely regarded as a master strategist and legislative genius, watching all of his best-laid plans crushed into a fine powder by the lumbering oaf that is Donald Trump. McConnell made this bed, of course, but he probably didn't realize that it was going to become this uncomfortable this quickly.

Differences of opinion regarding the procedural aspects of passing Trumpcare, though, might be the least of McConnell's worries, since the longer this process drags on, the more apparent it becomes that Donald Trump hasn't the foggiest idea of what is actually in the bill that he so desperately wants credit for passing.

A senator who supports the bill left the meeting at the White House with a sense that the president did not have a grasp of some basic elements of the Senate plan—and seemed especially confused when a moderate Republican complained that opponents of the bill would cast it as a massive tax break for the wealthy, according to an aide who received a detailed readout of the exchange.

To recap: Mitch McConnell couldn't pass Trumpcare on time. One of the few people who might be persuaded to reconsider immediately got roasted by a president whose negotiating skill set begins and ends with "uncritical retribution." And now Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are publicly sniping at each other as the Senate heads into an eleven-day break with the fate of its signature piece of legislation—the contents of which Trump may or may not understand—hanging in the balance. Happy Fourth of July, Mitch!</s>The fate of President Donald Trump's health care plan rests in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Kentucky Republican has said he wants a final vote on the Senate version of the American Health Care Act before Washington leaves for the July 4 recess. The challenges are clear; a half dozen Republican Senators have already said they can't support the legislation in its current form. McConnell can afford to lose only two. So, how can he hope to pull it off? For answers to that question, I reached out to Josh Holmes, a former McConnell chief of staff and campaign manager, who is now president of Cavalry, a Republican consulting firm. Holmes remains close to McConnell and brings a clear perspective -- strongly pro -- of the majority leader. Nonetheless, his insight into how McConnell goes about his legislative business in invaluable. Our conversation, conducted via email and lightly edited for flow, is below.

Cillizza: Describe Mitch McConnell's strategy so far with the health care bill.

Holmes: McConnell doesn't advertise his strategy but I'll give you my best guess on what's driving the action. In every big effort I've ever been associated with, McConnell begins by absorbing 90% of the political pressure himself. He plots a pathway that shoulders almost all of the political danger and allows his members to work things through without suffocating from critics. You can already see how that's played out in this debate with the prolonged focus on McConnell and the condensed timeline for his members.

Second, one of McConnell's great gifts is his ability to listen to his members. The product is always a direct reflection of the views of his conference -- not his own dictation. He and his staff have clearly spent countless hours talking to Senators about what they need because the bill they've come up with appears to be the closest you can get to consensus without applying the closing arguments. What sits before his members is a bill that does not create the same kind of paralyzing political problems that previous efforts have produced. It also includes gigantic conservative victories that could very well constitute the most significant conservative reforms in generations.

Third, he frames the debate. His members know he would not be taking something up if it weren't vitally important but sometimes everyone needs to reset the dial on why they're about to make a tough decision. McConnell has an uncanny ability to lay out the wisdom behind an approach and the potential pitfalls with various directions. In this case, clearly his members understand the problem. The insurance markets are failing and in all likelihood, without a reform effort undertaken now by Republicans, Congress could very well be addressing this again in the fall with a package that looks a lot more like a bailout than repeal. Worse yet, Republicans could lose a couple elections and the conversation about repairing the insurance markets will undoubtedly mean shifting towards the liberal dream of single-payer. If that weren't enough, it is the only opportunity Republican senators will have to keep their promise with respect to Obamacare. The enormity of the pressure for senators to keep that promise will weigh heavily on most of the remaining holdouts and for others, the failing system should provide ample motivation.

Fourth, McConnell always keeps moving forward. He has a profound sense of peace when the pressure is most intense. The intensity usually wears on politicians and most inevitably make a mistake, a rash decision, or otherwise compromise their ability to get something done. McConnell never lets his emotions dictate the pace of play -- he sets a timeline and marches forward. In this debate, the decisions are difficult, they are not unknown. He understands that time does not improve difficult decisions, it only delays them. The prevailing view appears to be that a difficult decision at the end of June is better than a difficult one at the end of July, because the outcome -- whatever it is -- will in all likelihood be the same. Five, he knows how to count votes. The world will find out where the votes are after they've been called but it won't be a mystery to the Senate Majority Leader. Cillizza: You have, at least, six GOP Senators expressing concern about the legislation. How does McConnell handle the unique challenges posed by that six-headed monster? Holmes: He inherently knows where he has room to maneuver and where he doesn't. He keeps a close watch on his fellow Senators and makes observances about what they need. With unanimous Democratic opposition to anything that touches Obamacare, the pathway is exceedingly narrow. In fact, if you had a Venn Diagram of the moderate and conservative concerns about health care reform the overlap may be invisible to the naked eye. McConnell will make find every inch of territory he has to make accommodations to ensure Senators are as comfortable as they can possibly be with the bill. Cillizza: McConnell is widely regarded as master legislative strategist. What's the biggest legislative victory you can remember -- and how did he make it happen? Holmes: Honestly, there isn't much of consequence that has moved in the last decade without his leadership. The campaign finance bills of the 1990s were certainly where he showed he was a cut above. The one that stands out to me was the : Honestly, there isn't much of consequence that has moved in the last decade without his leadership. The campaign finance bills of the 1990s were certainly where he showed he was a cut above. The one that stands out to me was the Budget Control Act of 2011 . The country was at the brink of default, negotiations between Speaker Boehner and President Obama had imploded, Harry Reid took to the Senate floor to pronounce everything dead, and credit agencies were downgrading America. Somehow through all of that, McConnell managed to negotiate the largest spending cut in generations with a Democratic Senate and Vice President Joe Biden a day before default. Cillizza: What makes McConnell good at this -- character-wise? What are the traits that distinguish him from other senators? Holmes: Mitch McConnell has hundreds of things that set him apart but here are 6 that are relevant to this week: 1. Focus. McConnell's ability to tune out the noise and stay concentrated is unprecedented. 2. He absolutely refuses to lose. It's that Michael Jordan-like intensity that just keeps him charging ahead when almost everyone else would throw up their hands. 3. He has humility. McConnell is motivated by accomplishment not who gets the credit. 4. He doesn't let mistakes cripple his progress. 5. He is loyal and possesses a long memory. That works both ways obviously. I always think you can always determine an effective leader by the loyalty of the people around them. I've never met a former staffer of Mitch McConnell's who doesn't love him. 6. He reads people better than anyone I've ever encountered and genuinely cares about their view. If you've got something productive to offer on a topic, he'll bring it out of you. Cillizza: Finish this sentence: "The chances of the Senate passing a health care bill before July 4 is ________%." Now, explain. Holmes: I don't do percentages well. I think they will get it done.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on the Republican legislation overhauling the Obama health care law (all times EDT):

Sources tell the Associated Press that Senate Republican leaders have abruptly delayed the vote on their health care bill until after the July 4th recess.

That’s the word Tuesday as the GOP faced five defections from its ranks just hours after the Congressional Budget Office said the bill would force 22 million off insurance rolls.

It was a major blow for the seven-year-old effort to repeal and replace Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

Separately, President Donald Trump has invited all GOP senators to the White House Tuesday afternoon.

New analysis shows that millionaires would get tax cuts averaging $52,000 a year from the Senate Republicans’ health bill.

Middle-income families would get about $260.

The analysis was done by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. It found that half of the tax cuts would go to families making more than $500,000 a year.

At the other end, families making $20,000 a year would, on average, get a $190 tax cut.

The Republican health bill would repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s health law. The law imposed a series of tax increases mainly targeted high-income families. The Senate Republican bill would repeal the taxes, though not all at once.

Major veterans’ organizations are voicing concerns about a Senate Republican bill to repeal the nation’s health care law. They fear the impact of rising insurance costs and are worried the underfunded Department of Veterans Affairs won’t be able to fill the coverage gap.

Paralyzed Veterans of America is one of the six biggest nonpartisan veterans’ groups. In a letter to senators Tuesday, it criticized an “opaque and closed” legislative process and proposed cuts to Medicaid that could lead to hundreds of thousands of lower-income veterans losing their insurance.

The organization joins a Democratic-leaning group, VoteVets, in opposing the bill. VoteVets launched a six-figure ad campaign in two states to pressure senators.

Disabled American Veterans and AMVETS also are expressing concern about the Senate legislation backed by President Donald Trump.

One of a handful of Republican senators opposing the Senate health care bill is headed to the White House to talk with President Donald Trump about the measure.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tweeted about his visit, saying he was: “Headed to meet with realDonaldTrump this afternoon.” He added that the current bill is “not real repeal and needs major improvement.”

Paul has said it is worse to “pass a bad bill than to pass no bill.”

Senate leaders are scrambled to rescue their health care bill in the face of defections after Congress’ nonpartisan budget office said the measure would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026 than President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been aiming to win Senate passage for the bill his week.

The New York attorney general is threatening to file a lawsuit to block the implementation of a Republican health care overhaul.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday that the evolving Senate bill violates women’s constitutional rights by de-funding Planned Parenthood. It also violates New York’s state’s rights, he said, by targeting a New York-specific Medicaid provision.

Schneiderman said, “If the version of the health care bill proposed last week ever becomes law, I am committed to going to court to challenge it to protect New Yorkers from these wrong-headed and unconstitutional” policies.

The Democrat made the comments in a speech to state business leaders. He later said his office is “doing the research” to prepare for possible litigation.

Senate Republican leaders planned to pass the bill this week, but so far lack the votes to take up the measure.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee has become the fifth Republican senator to oppose starting debate on the GOP health care bill. That deals another blow to party leaders hoping to push the top-priority measure through the Senate this week.

Lee was among four conservative senators who announced last week they oppose the bill’s current version. Lee spokesman Conn Carroll said Tuesday that the lawmaker will not vote for a crucial procedural motion allowing the Senate to begin debate on the legislation, unless it’s changed.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can lose the votes of only two of the 52 Republican senators to begin debate and ultimately pass the bill. All Democrats oppose it.

Lee has favored a fuller repeal of President Barack Obama’s health care law than the current GOP bill.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says he has faith in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s ability to round up the votes for the Republican health care bill despite growing opposition in the Senate.

Ryan told reporters on Tuesday: “I would not bet against Mitch McConnell.”

The Wisconsin Republican said he has every expectation that the Senate will move ahead on the bill, which the Congressional Budget Office says would kick 22 million off the insurance rolls. The bill would cut taxes, reduce the deficit and phase out the Medicaid expansion implemented by Barack Obama’s health law.

Ryan said every Republican senator campaigned on repealing and replacing Obama’s law.

The speaker said House members are waiting to see what happens in the Senate. The House could try to vote after the Senate to push the bill and get it to President Donald Trump before the weeklong July 4th recess.

Senate Republican leaders are scrambling to rescue their health care bill. It’s in trouble as opposition from rebellious Republicans grows.

The defections came as Congress’ nonpartisan budget referee said the measure would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026 than President Barack Obama’s law, which Republicans are trying to replace.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was hoping to staunch his party’s rebellion, a day after the Congressional Budget Office released its report. He’s been aiming at winning Senate passage this week, before a weeklong July 4 recess that leaders worry opponents will use to weaken support for the legislation.

Congress’ nonpartisan budget referee says the Senate Republican health care bill would leave 22 million additional people uninsured in 2026 compared to President Barack Obama’s law.

And now, disgruntled centrist and conservative GOP senators are forcing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to scramble to rescue the measure before debate even begins.

The Kentucky Republican was hoping to staunch his party’s rebellion on Tuesday, a day after the Congressional Budget Office released its report. He plans to suggest revisions to the legislation in hopes of rounding up votes.

McConnell wants to win Senate passage this week. But three GOP senators are threatening to vote against a procedural motion to begin debate, a vote expected Wednesday. To be approved, no more than two of the 52 GOP senators can vote against it.

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• MAN JAILED WHEN DRYWALL POWDER IS MISTAKEN FOR COCAINE</s>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. walks from his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, June 26, 2017. Senate Republicans unveil a revised health care bill in hopes of securing support from wavering GOP lawmakers, including one who calls the drive to whip his party's bill through the Senate this week "a little offensive." (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)</s>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Republican senators Tuesday he’s delaying a vote on the GOP health care bill until after the Fourth of July recess because he doesn’t have the votes to move it to debate, two senior Senate Republican aides told ABC News.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell formally confirmed the delay, saying, “We’re going to continue the discussions within our conference on the differences that we have.”

Sen. John Thune, R-Neb., stressed that the goal was to still replace Obamacare. “While the schedule may have slipped a little bit, we are intent on rescuing Americans from a failed systems that has driven up their cost and made it more difficult for them to find coverage,” Thune said.

Earlier Tuesday, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn told ABC News: “I expect to have the support and get it done…and yes, we will vote this week.”

At least five Republican senators said they’d opposed the procedural vote on the GOP health care plan, effectively blocking the bill from reaching the Senate floor.

In order to pass the health care bill through the Senate, Republicans can afford only two defections. In the event of a tie, they have the option of calling in Vice President Mike Pence to cast the tie-breaking vote.

Before the delay was announced, Republicans senators were invited to the White House for a meeting with President Donald Trump.

“The president invited us to come down,” McConnell said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “The White House has been very much involved in these discussions. They’re very anxious to help, and we appreciate the invitation, and I hope all of our members will head down.”</s>All eyes focused on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., this week. McConnell faced mounting opposition from his own ranks on an effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Few saw a way out of this legislative cul-de-sac.

A veteran Senate aide had few ideas as to how McConnell could jimmy free the necessary votes to pass the Republican health care bill. But the aide offered this gem:

“McConnell’s a lot like Wesley Snipes in ‘Passenger 57,’” observed the staffer. “Always bet on McConnell.”

And sure enough, that’s what everyone did. Democrats and Republicans alike. Never underestimate a parliamentary tactician and legislative mastermind like Mitch McConnell. Foes do so at their own peril.

“I expect to have the support to get it done. And yes, we will vote this week,” predicted Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas.

But it never looked like McConnell even made it to the casino.

Senate Republicans appeared uncharacteristically jittery last week, hours before McConnell unveiled the GOP health care benchmark to a closed-door conclave.

“Until you see it in writing, you don’t know if it’s real,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., of provisions that were promised in the discussion draft. “Until it’s there, it ain’t there.”

Everyone knew that Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, could be a swing vote on the health care plan. A coterie of reporters briefly chased Murkowski last Wednesday night, asking if she wanted to talk about health care.

“Not really,” hollered the Alaska Republican over her shoulder as she disappeared into the Senate chamber.

Here’s McConnell’s gambit. Republicans hold 52 Senate seats. The leader aimed to cobble together a coalition of 50 GOP senators who would vote yes on the bill and deploy Vice President Pence to break the tie. McConnell could only lose two GOPers and still thread the needle. But it didn’t take long for Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; and Dean Heller, R-Nev., to oppose the health care package.

The key was not whether McConnell had the votes to pass the bill, but whether the leader had the votes just to start debate on the plan. The Senate requires 51 yeas on what’s called the “motion to proceed” to the health care bill. But McConnell lacked even that meager support.

Republicans knew that Democrats would filibuster a bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Conventional legislation needs 60 votes to break a filibuster to start debate and 60 votes to halt debate. McConnell knew Democrats would block the GOP at every turn, as Republicans only commanded 52 votes. But there’s a way around that. A special process called “budget reconciliation” lowers the threshold to a simple majority (51 yeas) to bring a bill to the floor. Budget reconciliation turns off most filibusters. But you still have to figure out a way to get onto the bill.

Still, a motion to proceed – even to a budget reconciliation plan – is “debatable” in the Senate. That means it’s subject to a filibuster. In this case, a Republican filibuster. Four GOP senators announced they opposed beginning debate on the health care plan: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined Paul, Johnson and Heller in threatening to short-circuit McConnell’s effort to bring the bill to the floor. Most filibusters don’t imitate Jimmy Stewart talking all night. Filibusters often unfold when a senator or a coalition of senators threatens to keep the Senate from advancing to a given subject – such as on the “motion to proceed.”

You cannot change congressional mathematics. McConnell never had the votes to even begin the debate, felled by a GOP filibuster.

This of course was an irony of ironies. House and Senate Republicans went to great lengths to assemble a budget reconciliation vehicle under which to repeal and replace ObamaCare. They feared a Democratic filibuster. Yet a Republican filibuster derailed the health care bill.

McConnell and a small group of Republican senators prepped their health care plan for weeks away from public view. Despite the “repeal and replace” mantra of the past eight years, the GOP measure still isn’t baked.

“It’s an ongoing discussion,” replied McConnell “Several (senators) want more time.”

“Even his legislative wizardry is having a rough, rough time,” observed Schumer of McConnell’s plight.

Part of McConnell’s conundrum stems from which senators are noes. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; Rob Portman, R-Ohio; and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., joined the other five nay votes on Tuesday. The group of eight nays cuts across the political spectrum -- from conservative Republicans to moderates. One source told Fox News it would be “easier” if the problems were “all on one side.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., faced a similar phenomenon when the House tried to approve its health care measure. Ryan would fix one issue to court conservatives yet lose moderates. But here’s the difference: the margins are wider in the House. McConnell has a turning radius of two votes. That’s a challenge.

It’s no surprise that Cornyn likened the exercise to trying to keep a colony of bullfrogs in a wheelbarrow. You get one bullfrog back in the wheelbarrow and another one jumps out.

So it’s back to work. President Trump invited GOP senators to the White House Tuesday afternoon. The president strategically positioned Collins on one side of him and Murkowski on the other. A pessimist might view Tuesday’s meeting as a face-saving effort for the president. But Trump may have one ace in the hole: McConnell and his parliamentary finesse.

Just like betting against Wesley Snipes in “Passenger 57.”

And that’s a wager the president and congressional Republicans are still willing to take.

Capitol Attitude is a weekly column written by members of the Fox News Capitol Hill team. Their articles take you inside the halls of Congress, and cover the spectrum of policy issues being introduced, debated and voted on there.</s>Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., center, who has expressed opposition to his own party's health care bill, walks to a policy meeting as the Senate Republican legislation teeters on the brink of collapse, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., needs 50 members of his conference to back the GOP health care bill in order to pass it. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The U.S. Republican Party's leadership, facing strong opposition to the Senate version of H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act of 2017, postpones the planned vote on the bill, a setback to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.