Mick Mulvaney, OMB director, says ‘Washington won’ in failure to repeal Obamacare

Mick Mulvaney, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said Sunday that the House Republicans’ bill to repeal and replace Obamacare failed because “Washington won.”

He said President Trump proved himself ready to make deals and govern but the dysfunction of Washington — from the fractions House Republican conference to the steadfast opposition from Democrats — proved insurmountable.

“There’s probably plenty of blame to go around,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“What happened is that Washington won,” said Mr. Mulvaney. “I think the one thing we learned this week is that Washington is a lot more broken than President Trump thought that it was.”

Mr. Mulvaney, who was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus that was instrumental in derailing the legislation, said he didn’t know why his former colleagues couldn’t get to yes.

“I have no idea. I really don’t,” he said.

The decision by Mr. Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan to pull the health care bill Friday was a painful setback for the president’s agenda, calling into question the party’s ability to push through major legislation despite GOP control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.

“Is the Republican Party capable of governing? I know the man in the White House is capable of governing. I saw it this week,” said Mr. Mulvaney.

“We haven’t been able to change Washington in the first 65 days,” he said. “And I think if there’s anything that’s disappointing and sort of an educational process to the Trump administration, was that this place was a lot more rotten than we thought that it was.”