Donald Trump has suffered an embarrassing setback on a key campaign pledge after Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell delayed a vote on his legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The draft bill was meant to mollify moderates and hardliners in the Republican Party, but opposition quickly mounted on both sides.

The news that 22 million would lose health insurance coverage, from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), dealt a major blow.

The Republican bill now will not be considered until after the Senate's week-long 4 July recess.

There are deep ideological divides in the discussion of the bill.


Image: Trump and members of Congress discuss the Affordable Care Act

For hardline Republicans, the plan did not go far enough.

They demanded states be allowed to waive a ban on insurance companies charging sick people more, and they wanted states to be given the chance to opt out more easily.

Moderate Republicans, however, felt it went too far. They wanted more investment in mental health and addiction programmes.

The draft bill struggled from the outset. Three Republican senators said they would vote against the motion to begin debate before it even hit the Senate floor. With the party requiring 50 votes to push the bill through, it could only afford to lose two. Many more members expressed reservations.

The legislation was drafted in secret and the President largely took a back seat. But minutes before news broke of an imminent delay, the White House scrambled to invite senators to discuss the issues.

A bus waited outside the capitol and at the same time Mr McConnell told reporters he would work to get more on side.

Image: Donald Trump with families whose insurance premiums reportedly rose after the Affordable Care Act

That olive branch came too late for any legislative progress. Mr Trump is learning just how difficult and complicated healthcare is.

Unlike the first House bill, the Senate did not wait for the floor to debate before pulling the plug. The stakes are high and some senators have already said they cannot see themselves being swayed.

Mr Trump will likely try to remind them of their promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, but Republicans are quickly realising that owning healthcare is not easy.

If they win, they know they will still have to spend years defending taking away health insurance from tens of millions of Americans.

But they cannot afford to walk away empty handed. If they struggle to pass this, making headway on tax reform and infrastructure will be even harder.