While popular vote loser Donald Trump and his toady House Speaker Paul Ryan are talking up the imminent return of Zombie Trumpcare, they are sending out the help to do the dirty work. "It's not going to happen next week," whisper a bevy of anonymous "senior" aides.
"The question is whether it can get 216 votes in the House, and the answer isn't clear at this time," said a senior GOP aide, referring to the number of votes likely necessary to pass the legislation.
"There is no legislative text and therefore no agreement to do a whip count on."
"I don't know that the state of play has really changed over the recess," said another House GOP aide.
A White House aide also said they are "still in the same place we've been" with no timetable or set date for a vote. […]
"There's no deal," said an aide to one moderate House GOP lawmaker.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they started to lose more moderates" because of the new changes, the aide added.
Those changes make a mockery of Republicans' promise to keep protections for people with pre-existing conditions by allowing states to opt out of them, as well as opting out of the essential health benefits the law says all plans must include—emergency room coverage, pregnancy coverage, immunizations, etc.
So, yeah, not too likely to get more moderates on board. Particularly when you've got Freedom Caucus guys (they're all guys) like Rep. David Brat (R-VA) crowing over how it's the "same fundamental bill" as last month's, but with more stuff to bring the maniacs on board.