Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to meet with local business leaders in Little Rock, Arkansas. | AP Photo Pence postpones travel to fight for Obamacare repeal in Washington

As the House nears a climactic floor vote on Republican leaders’ legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare on Friday, Vice President Mike Pence has postponed his previously scheduled visit to Arkansas and Tennessee.

Pence was scheduled to meet with local business leaders in Little Rock, Arkansas, to discuss the American Health Care Act and deliver formal remarks on Friday afternoon and then head to Memphis, Tennessee, later in the day.


“The Vice President is postponing his trip to Little Rock and Memphis to remain in Washington to work with President Trump as the House of Representatives considers the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare,” Pence press secretary Marc Lotter said in a statement to POLITICO.

House Republican leaders originally scheduled the vote to replace Obamacare for Thursday but delayed it as they continued to whip votes. President Donald Trump on Thursday, however, demanded an up-or-down vote on the embattled legislation Friday, setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown that could sink what leaders have characterized as Republicans’ last, best chance to finally make good on their years-long pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Trump, who White House press secretary Sean Spicer and House Speaker Paul Ryan have signaled as “the closer,” appeared to make his public closing argument via Twitter on Friday morning.

“After seven horrible years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!” he wrote.

Minutes later, he criticized the conservative House Freedom Caucus, a hard-line bloc of conservatives that could ultimately tank his proposal Friday.

“The irony is that the Freedom Caucus, which is very pro-life and against Planned Parenthood, allows P.P. to continue if they stop this plan!” he warned.