Budget chief: ‘Powers that be in Washington’ won healthcare fight

The director of the Office of Management and Budget says he has no idea why he could not get his former colleagues in the House Freedom Caucus to support the GOP healthcare measures.

“I have no idea. I really don’t,” Mick Mulvaney told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” when asked why he could not convince members of the conservative caucus to support the American Health Care Act. Mulvaney was a member of the caucus when he served in Congress.

“There’s probably plenty of blame to go around,” Mulvaney said of the legislation’s failure.

{mosads}President Trump asked Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to pull the legislation in the final hours, as it appeared the measures would not receive enough votes to pass.

Mulvaney on Sunday argued that “the powers that be in Washington” won in the fight over healthcare.

“This place was a lot more rotten that we thought it was,” he said.