US Republicans divided over next healthcare steps after new setback

Republicans in the U.S. Congress were in chaos over healthcare legislation after a second attempt to pass a bill in the Senate collapsed late on July 17, with President Donald Trump calling for an outright repeal of Obamacare and others seeking a change in direction toward bipartisanship.

"Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

Two of McConnell's Senate conservatives announced just hours earlier that they would not support the Republican leader's latest version of legislation to repeal portions of President Barack Obama's landmark 2010 healthcare law and replace them with new, less costly healthcare provisions.

With Senators Mike Lee and Jerry Moran joining Senators Susan Collins and Rand Paul in opposition, McConnell no longer had enough votes to pass a Republican healthcare bill in the 100-member Senate.

The developments had an immediate impact on financial markets as Asian shares stepped back from more than two-year highs on July 18 and the dollar extended losses.

In the United States, the latest setback delivered a major blow to Trump, who has failed to win any major legislative initiative in the first six months of his presidency.

In response, Trump said on Twitter Congress should immediately repeal Obamacare and "start from a clean slate" on a new healthcare plan. He said Democrats would join such an effort, even though they have refused to have any part of an Obamacare repeal.

McConnell, apparently backing Trump's latest approach, announced that he would try to bring legislation to repeal Obamacare to the Senate floor in coming days, but with a two...