Tag Archives: United States

Arab leaders reaffirm support for Palestinian state amid unease over U.S. stance

(front R-L) Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Sudan's President Omar Al Bashir, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz pose for a group photograph during the 28th Ordinary Summit of the Arab League at the Dead Sea, Jordan March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Hamed

By Ali Sawafta and Suleiman Al-Khalidi

DEAD SEA, Jordan/AMMAN (Reuters) – Arab leaders reaffirmed on Wednesday their commitment to a two-state solution to the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict amid increased unease over the stance of the United States under the new administration of President Donald Trump.

Trump rattled Arab and European leaders in February by indicating he was open to a one-state solution, upending a position taken by successive administrations and the international community.

Trump later told Reuters in an interview he liked the concept of a two-state solution but stopped short of reasserting a U.S. commitment to eventual Palestinian statehood, saying he would be “satisfied with whatever makes both parties happy”.

Arab leaders attending a one-day summit beside the Dead Sea did not publicly refer to Trump or his ambiguous statements, but were keen to stress their own continued backing for an independent Palestinian state and also strongly criticized the continued building of Jewish settlements on occupied territory.

The summit’s host, King Abdullah of Jordan, said the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel remained the basis of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal.

“Israel is continuing to expand settlements and wreck chances of peace … There is no peace or stability in the region without a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause through a two-state solution,” the king said.

ISRAEL CRITICIZED

The venue of the conference is only a few km (miles) from the occupied West Bank and Israeli settlements are visible to the naked eye.

This week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was committed to work with Trump to advance peace efforts with the Palestinians, but he also stopped short of reiterating a commitment to a two-state solution.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticized Israeli policy in his speech to Wednesday’s summit.

“The Israeli government has since 2009 worked on wrecking the two-state solution by accelerating the tempo of settlements and the confiscation of land,” Abbas told the leaders.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt met Abbas ahead of Wednesday’s summit, the second such meeting in two weeks. Trump has also invited Abbas to the White House.

“(Greenblatt) had a lot of queries and we are answering them to complete the picture in their minds and speaking as Arabs in one language,” Abbas said, adding that he had told the envoy that Palestinians remained as firm as ever in their demand for an independent state.

The Palestinians and Arabs want Arab East Jerusalem – which Israel captured in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognized internationally – as the capital of a future state encompassing the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

King Abdullah, whose dynasty has custodianship over Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, said any unilateral Israeli move to change the status quo in the Dome of the Rock and the Aqsa mosque would have “catastrophic” consequences for the future of the region, inflaming Muslim sentiment.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres also endorsed a two-state solution, telling summit participants this was the “only path to ensure that Palestinians and Israelis can realize their national aspirations and live in peace, security and dignity”.

(Writing by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Trump touts Ford investment in three Michigan plants

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields as he hosts a meeting with U.S. auto industry CEOs at the White House in Washington January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By Nick Carey and Susan Heavey

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday touted an expected announcement from Ford Motor Co <F.N> about investments and jobs at U.S. plants, saying the automaker would make a major investment in three Michigan facilities.

The company is expected to make an announcement later on Tuesday morning. In January, Ford scrapped plans to build a $1.6 billion car factory in Mexico and instead added 700 jobs in Michigan following Trumps criticism.

A person briefed on the matter said Ford is announcing new investments in existing Michigan plants and some new jobs on Tuesday but it is not clear if these jobs were previously expected.

The move comes at a time when U.S. new car and truck sales are at an all-time high and investors are watching closely for signs of a possible downturn in the highly-cyclical industry.

The planned announcement comes less than two weeks after Trump visited Detroit to promise more auto jobs for Michigan and other Midwestern U.S. states.

At times Trump has promoted job announcements at the White House that had been previously planned or announced. Last week he praised an investment decision by Charter Communications Inc <CHTR.O> that the company announced before he was elected.

Ford will announce investments at its Michigan plants in Wayne, Flat Rock and Romeo, the Detroit News reported, citing three sources familiar with the plans. The newspaper said it was unclear how many jobs Ford would create or the amount it would invest.

Last week, Ford said it expected higher investments, as well as other spending, to weigh on 2017 earnings.

U.S. sales of new cars and trucks hit a record high of 17.55 million units in 2016. On Friday, industry consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive maintained their 2017 sales forecast of 17.6 million vehicles, an increase of 0.2 percent from 2016.

But they said automakers’ incentive spending in the United States in the first half of March had hit a record for the month, breaking the previously set mark in March 2009 during the height of the Great Recession.

On Monday, Moody’s Investors service said it expected U.S. new vehicle sales to dip in 2017 and warned of a “significant credit risk” for auto lenders as competition for loans intensifies.

Trump has focused on U.S. automotive jobs, meeting with company executives as well as pressuring – and praising – them on Twitter. Executives have also said they hope his administration will pursue tax and regulatory policies that would benefit U.S. manufacturers.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Bernard Orr)

Fed’s Kashkari calls for changes to U.S. education system

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari speaks during an interview at Reuters in New York February 17, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said on Thursday that the U.S. education system needs an overhaul and called for more parental choice, failing schools to be shut down and additional research to tackle issues.

“We must not stand still – not just for the sake of our economic competitiveness, but also so that we become a fairer society where all Americans have a real opportunity to fulfill their potential,” he said in prepared remarks to a Federal Reserve childhood education research conference in Washington.

Kashkari, the lone dissenter against the U.S. central bank’s decision last week to raise its benchmark interest rate, did not mention monetary policy or the economic outlook in his speech.

Instead, he focused on strategies to improve educational outcomes that would have the knock-on effect of strengthening U.S. employment.

Those would include greater choice for parents picking where to send their child to school, according to the former Republican candidate for California governor.

“I believe all parents — across income, racial and geographical groups — should be able to choose where to send their children to school,” Kashkari said.

The U.S. central bank does not have policy levers to target education but does have a host of researchers looking at all aspects of the economy.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Trump administration grants permit for Keystone XL pipeline: TransCanada

A depot used to store pipes for Transcanada Corp's planned Keystone XL oil pipeline is seen in Gascoyne, North Dakota, January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester

By Luciana Lopez

(Reuters) – The United States has issued a presidential permit for TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL oil pipeline, the Canadian company said on Friday, ending a years-long battle between environmentalists and the industry over whether Washington should approve it.

U.S. President Donald Trump will announce the permit alongside TransCanada <TRP.TO> Chief Executive Officer Russell Girling at the White House later Friday, according to a senior administration official. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said a Keystone XL announcement would come at 10:15 a.m. EDT.

TransCanada’s U.S.-listed shares <TRP.N> jumped 3.7 percent to $49.50 in premarket trading.

The pipeline linking Canadian oil sands to U.S. refiners had been blocked for years by former President Barack Obama, who said it would do nothing to reduce fuel prices for U.S. motorists and contribute to emissions linked to global warming. Environmental groups have forcefully opposed the pipeline.

Trump, however, campaigned on a promise to approve it, saying it would create thousands of jobs and help the oil industry, and signed an executive order soon after taking office in January to advance the project.

The multibillion-dollar Keystone XL pipeline would bring more than 800,000 barrels per day of heavy crude from Canada’s oil sands in Alberta into Nebraska, linking to an existing pipeline network feeding U.S. refineries and ports along the Gulf of Mexico.

Approvals are still needed from state regulators, and the pipeline could face legal challenges.

Expedited approval of projects is part of Trump’s approach to a 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure package he promised on the campaign trail. The White House is looking for ways to speed up approvals and permits for other infrastructure projects, which can sometimes take years to go through a regulatory maze.

“It does fit into the overall strategy the president has for infrastructure,” the administration official said. The official, who asked not to be identified, added that Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, was also expected to be present at the announcement.

Conservatives have said they support quick approval. Nick Loris, an energy and environmental researcher at the Heritage Foundation, said on Thursday that approval would “re-establish some certainty and sanity to a permitting process that was hijacked by political pandering.”

Environmental groups that have opposed the pipeline say they will continue the fight with petitions, political pressure and mass protests.

(Reporting by Luciana Lopez in New York; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Obamacare supporters rally against congressional repeal efforts

Protesters demonstrate against U.S. President Donald Trump and his plans to end Obamacare as they march to the White House in Washington, U.S., March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Supporters of Obamacare staged rallies across the country on Thursday denouncing efforts by President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders to repeal the landmark law that has extended medical insurance coverage to some 20 million Americans.

Hundreds of demonstrators turned out in Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles marking the seventh anniversary of enactment of Obamacare, as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has become widely known.

Many talked about a very personal stake in the outcome of the healthcare debate roiling Capitol Hill.

“I feel sick today, but I came here because I’m terrified,” said Steve Martin, 27, an unemployed Los Angeles resident who was diagnosed with cancer a year ago. “The legislators have the best healthcare in the world, and we deserve the same.”

The ACA, considered former Democratic President Barack Obama’s premiere domestic achievement, has drawn unrelenting scorn from Republicans, with promises to repeal and replace it a centerpiece of Trump’s presidential campaign.

Thursday’s rallies coincided with planned action in the House of Representatives on a Republican-backed bill to begin dismantling Obamacare, but the vote was indefinitely postponed as Republican leaders and the White House scrambled to muster enough votes for passage.

Many moderate Republicans as well as Democrats have raised concerns that repeal-and-replace would leave too many Americans without health coverage.

Supporters of the bill say it would lower premiums, but critics counter that those savings would in many cases be more than offset by higher co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs.

Obamacare backers also worry about the fate of millions who gained insurance under the bill’s major expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state program providing coverage for the needy, the elderly and the disabled.

In the nation’s capital, several hundred chanting protesters gathered at Freedom Plaza, a few blocks from the White House, carrying signs with slogans such as “We Fight Back” and “Keep America Healthy.”

Robinette Barmer, 61, a former seamstress and caterer from Baltimore now on a disability pension, said that without Obamacare she could not afford the various medications she takes for ailments such as asthma and high blood pressure.

“It’s co-pay this, co-pay that. I can’t pay that. I’m struggling as it is right now,” she said.

After the rally, protesters marched a block to the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, where several dozen sprawled on the sidewalk in a “die-in” symbolizing the effect of rolling back Obamacare. Some 24 protesters were arrested in front of the White House after they refused get off the ground, organizers said.

Protest organizers said smaller gatherings were also held outside the congressional district offices of various Republican lawmakers around the country.

(Additional reporting by Olga Grigoryants in Los Angeles and Robert Chiarito in Chicago; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Leslie Adler and Michael Perry)

U.S.-Israeli teen arrested in Israel for Jewish center bomb threats

U.S.-Israeli teen (2ndL) arrested in Israel on suspicion of making bomb threats against Jewish community centres in the United States, Australia and New Zealand over the past three months, is seen before the start of a remand hearing at Magistrate's Court in Rishon Lezion, Israel March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

By Jeffrey Heller and Joseph Ax

JERUSALEM/NEW YORK (Reuters) – A teenager with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship was arrested in Israel on Thursday on suspicion of making dozens of hoax bomb threats against Jewish community centers in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

The suspect, whose identity remains sealed pursuant to a court order, is 18, Jewish and a dual U.S.-Israeli national, a police spokesman said.

The teenager’s alleged motives were not immediately clear.

At a court hearing near Tel Aviv, the suspect’s defense attorney, Galit Bash, said the young man has a growth in his head that causes behavioral problems. She later told Reuters he has a brain tumor, which “may affect his behavior, his ability to understand right and wrong,” and said the teen’s father had also been held in connection with the case.

U.S. federal authorities have been investigating a surge of threats against Jewish organizations, including more than 100 bomb threats in separate waves over the past three months targeting Jewish community centers (JCCs) in dozens of states.

The threats prompted criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump for what some Jewish groups saw as an inadequate response from his administration. He condemned the incidents in a major speech to Congress in February.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday said the arrest reflected the government’s determination to prosecute those who perpetrate hate crimes.

“… we will not tolerate the targeting of any community in this country on the basis of their religious beliefs,” Sessions said in a statement.

Israeli police said the teenager is believed to be responsible for most of the threats, though the precise number was not immediately clear.

The suspect, who is accused of targeting centers in Australia and New Zealand as well as the United States, began making the calls in January using advanced masking technologies to hide his identity, police said.

Authorities also said he was responsible for a previous bomb threat against a Delta Airlines flight in January 2015 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which took part in the probe, confirmed the arrest but declined to offer further details.

The threats forced the evacuation of many JCCs, including some with day care and school facilities for infants and young children. Coupled with other incidents such as the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, they have stoked fears of a resurgence in anti-Semitism in the United States.

In a statement, the president of the JCC Association of North America said JCC leaders were “troubled” the teenager appears to be Jewish.

The Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism in the United States, said the alleged perpetrator’s actions mattered more than his background.

“While the details of this crime remain unclear, the impact of this individual’s actions is crystal clear: these were acts of anti-Semitism,” the organization said in a statement.

Bash said her client was home-schooled and incapable of holding down a job. She added he had been found medically unfit for Israel’s compulsory military service.

A judge ruled that he be held for at least eight more days.

U.S. authorities previously made one other arrest in connection with the threats. Juan Thompson, a former journalist from St. Louis, is accused of making several threats to Jewish organizations while posing as an ex-girlfriend as part of a revenge plot against her.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem and Joseph Ax in New York; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Baz Ratner and Rami Amichay in Rishon Lezion; Editing by Daniel Wallis and James Dalgleish)

U.S. new home sales hit seven-month high; jobless claims rise

A job seeker fills out an application at the King Soopers grocery store table at a job fair at the Denver Workforce Center in Denver, Colorado, U.S. February 15, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New U.S. single-family home sales jumped to a seven-month high in February, suggesting the housing market recovery continued to gain momentum despite the challenges of high prices and tight inventories.

Other data on Thursday showed an unexpected increase in the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week. Still, the labor market continues to tighten, which together with the strength in housing, should underpin economic growth.

The Commerce Department said new home sales increased 6.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000 units last month, the highest level since July 2016. Sales have now recouped the sharp drop suffered in December.

Economists had forecast new home sales, which account for about 9.7 percent of the overall market, rising 0.7 percent to a rate of 565,000 units in February. Sales were up 12.8 percent compared to the same month last year, showing the housing market’s resilience.

Last month’s sales were likely partially buoyed by unseasonably warm weather. Although mortgage rates have risen and may go higher, most economists see a limited impact on housing because a tightening labor market is improving employment opportunities for young adults.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 258,000 for the week ended March 18.

Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market for 80 straight weeks. That is the longest stretch since 1970 when the labor market was smaller. The job market is currently near full employment.

The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, rose only 1,000 to 240,000 last week.

U.S. stocks were mostly flat as investors focused on whether the House of Representatives would pass a Republican-sponsored bill to begin dismantling Obamacare, which is seen as the first significant policy test for President Donald Trump.

Prices of U.S. Treasuries were trading lower while the dollar <.DXY> was stronger against a basket of currencies.

LABOR MARKET FIRMING

The claims data covered the period during which the government surveyed employers for March’s nonfarm payrolls report. The four-week average of claims fell 7,750 between the February and March survey weeks, suggesting another month of strong job gains.

Job growth has averaged 209,000 per month over the past three months and the unemployment rate is at 4.7 percent, close to the nine-year low of 4.6 percent hit last November. Tightening labor market conditions and rising inflation enabled the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates last week.

The market for new houses is benefiting from a shortage of properties for sale. A report on Wednesday showed a 3.7 percent drop in sales of existing homes in February amid tight inventories and rising house prices. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is currently around 4.30 percent.

Last month, new single-family homes sales surged 30.9 percent to their highest level since November 2007 in the Midwest and increased 3.6 percent in the South. They jumped 7.5 percent in the West but slumped 21.4 percent in the Northeast.

The inventory of new homes on the market increased 1.5 percent to 266,000 units last month, still less than half of what it was at its peak during the housing boom in 2006.

At February’s sales pace it would take 5.4 months to clear the supply of houses on the market, down from 5.6 months in January.

A six-month supply is viewed as a healthy balance between supply and demand. The median price for a new home fell 4.9 percent to $296,200 in February from a year ago.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)

Police officer, three others killed in Wisconsin shooting: reports

By Brendan O’Brien

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – A police officer and three other people were killed in a string of shootings, including at a bank and a law firm, in central Wisconsin following what police referred to as domestic incident, media reported on Wednesday.

A suspect was taken into custody by police at an apartment building in Weston, a community of 15,000 about 90 miles (140 km) west of Green Bay, in the wake of the shootings, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper reported.

The incident began with a “domestic situation,” the Journal Sentinel reported, citing a press release from the Rothschild Police Department.

At about 12:30 p.m. central time shots were reported fired at the Marathon Savings Bank in the nearby town of Rothschild, Todd Baeten, police captain for Wausau, Wisconsin, told an afternoon press conference. Police found two people shot at the bank and that the suspect fled, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Shots were then reported at a law firm in Schofield, Wisconsin at about 1:10 p.m. About 20 minutes later, police received a call from an apartment building in Weston. Police converged on the apartment complex and took the suspect into custody about an hour later after more shots were fired, the Journal Sentinel reported.

It is unclear where the police officer was shot and killed. Police did not disclose the identities of the suspect and the four people who were killed. Wausau police and the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigations declined to confirm the casualties to Reuters.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Additional reporting and writing by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

U.S. may accuse North Korea in Bangladesh cyber heist: WSJ

Federal Reserve and New York City Police officers stand guard in front of the New York Federal Reserve Building in New York, October 17, 2012. REUTERS/Keith Bedford/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors are building potential cases that would accuse North Korea of directing the theft of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last year, and that would charge alleged Chinese middlemen, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation believes that North Korea is responsible for the heist, an official briefed on the probe told Reuters. Richard Ledgett, deputy director of the U.S. National Security Agency, publicly suggested on Tuesday that North Korea may be linked to the incident, while private firms have long pointed the finger at the reclusive state.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that prosecutors believe Chinese middlemen helped North Korea orchestrate the theft from Bangladesh’s central bank, which was among the biggest bank robberies in modern times.

The current cases being pursued may not include charges against North Korean officials, but would likely implicate the country, the newspaper reported, with the United States accusing a foreign government of orchestrating the heist.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokesman declined to comment.

FBI offices in Los Angeles and New York have been leading an international investigation into the February 2016 incident, in which hackers breached Bangladesh Bank’s systems and used the SWIFT messaging network to request nearly $1 billion from its account at the New York Fed.

The branch of the U.S. central bank rejected most of the requests but filled some of them, resulting in $81 million disappearing into casinos and other entities in the Philippines. A top police investigator in Dhaka told Reuters in December that some Bangladesh Bank officials deliberately exposed its computer systems, enabling the hackers to get in.

The incident exposed bungling and miscommunication between central banks, and left the Fed, Bangladesh, SWIFT, and the Philippine lender that initially received the funds trading blame for months.

SWIFT – or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication that serves as the backbone of global finance – has since revealed that its messaging system has been targeted in a “meaningful” number of other attacks last year using a similar approach as in the Bangladesh incident.

Last week, SWIFT said it planned to cut off the remaining North Korean banks still connected to its system as concerns about the country’s nuclear program and missile tests grow.

The Journal reported that federal investigators are focusing on Chinese individuals or businesses who allegedly helped North Korea orchestrate the heist, and that the U.S. Treasury is considering sanctions against these alleged middlemen.

The New York Fed and SWIFT declined to comment.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Joseph Menn; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and James Dalgleish)

Vote looming, Trump struggles to win Obamacare repeal

U.S. President Donald Trump walks from Marine One as he returns to the White House in Washington. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

By Roberta Rampton and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday was set to make a final push on Thursday to secure the votes to begin dismantling Obamacare in the House of Representatives, with signs that enough Republicans might defect to jeopardize one of his top legislative priorities.

Trump has mounted an intensive campaign to garner support for the initiative and the effort is seen by financial markets as a crucial test of his ability to move his legislative agenda, including planned tax cuts, through Congress.

Republican leaders hoped to vote on Thursday but there were signs the deadline could be pushed back. Trump scheduled an 11:30 a.m. ET/1530 GMT meeting with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus at the White House.

“We’re still open for negotiations,” Representative Ted Yoho, a member of the conservative group, told CNN. “There is still time.”

Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer said the majority Republicans clearly did not have enough votes to pass the bill, which has been championed by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Trump and Ryan need strong support from their side of the aisle and can only afford to lose 21 Republican votes.

As part of his effort, Trump urged Americans in a tweet early on Thursday to press their representatives to vote for the bill, known formally as the American Health Care Act.

Uncertainty over the bill has rattled financial markets and a failure just two months into Trump’s presidency would be a setback for the White House, which as late as Wednesday had cautioned there was “no Plan B” for the healthcare measure.

Stocks on Tuesday posted their biggest one-day drop since the Nov. 8 presidential election on concerns about the healthcare drama.

Failure to pass the legislation would cast doubt on Trump’s ability to deliver other parts of his agenda that need the cooperation of the Republican-controlled Congress, including ambitious plans to overhaul the tax code and invest in infrastructure.

The House vote had been expected by about 7 p.m. (2300 GMT). But by midnight on Wednesday, lawmakers had not yet settled on the timing of the vote as conservative and moderate Republicans split on whether there should be additional changes to the proposal.

House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions said the vote could happen as early as Thursday or as late as Monday.

Democratic representatives are united against the bill, which seeks to repeal and replace Democratic President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act.

Conservative Republicans have complained the replacement is too similar to Obamacare, and some moderate Republicans are concerned it will weaken health coverage for millions of voters.

An aide to the Freedom Caucus said at one point on Wednesday that more than 25 of its members opposed the plan. The chairman of the group, Representative Mark Meadows, said negotiations late on Wednesday were making headway.

Moderate Republicans huddled late into the evening in Ryan’s office. Afterward, Representative Charlie Dent issued a statement saying he could not back the bill.

Trump and fellow Republicans campaigned during 2016 elections on a promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, a program that aimed to boost the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies.

Their replacement plan would rescind the taxes created by Obamacare, repeal a penalty against people who do not buy coverage, slash funding for the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled, and modify tax subsidies that help individuals buy plans.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated 14 million people would lose medical coverage under the Republican plan by next year. It also said that 24 million fewer people would be insured by 2026.

Even if the legislation passes the House, it faces a second hurdle in the Senate, where a number of Republicans have spoken out against that version.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Jeff Mason; Editing by Michael Perry and Bill Trott)