A new poll shows Republicans mostly blame the US Congress, and not President Donald Trump or party leaders, for failing to pass their party's healthcare overhaul.
The March 25-28 Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll asked respondents who should take responsibility for the failure of the American Health Care Act, which Republican leaders pulled from consideration last week without a vote.
Besides Trump, who backed the bill, and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, who was expected to shepherd it through Congress, the poll asked if people blamed House Republicans, House Democrats or the media.
The poll, released on Wednesday, shows Republicans were most likely to blame Congress with some 26 per cent saying House Democrats were most responsible and 23 per cent blaming House Republicans. Another 13 per cent blamed Trump and 10 per cent blamed Ryan. Only 8 per cent blamed the media.
Their assessment appeared to align with Trump's criticism of Democratic leaders and the conservative Freedom Caucus, whom he blamed for the bill's failure.
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Overall, nearly one in four Americans, including Democrats and independents, blamed Trump. Ryan, Congress and the media received less criticism.
The Republican reform was widely criticised after estimates by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office showed 24 million people could lose their health insurance over the next 10 years.
Trump said on Tuesday he still thinks healthcare reform can happen "very quickly" in Washington, but he did not offer any specifics on how it could get done, or what would be changed from the previous bill.
