Facing revolt within party, GOP delays Senate vote

US Republicans eager to repeal "Obamacare" suffered a deeply embarrassing setback Tuesday when shrinking support forced them to postpone votes on their controversial health care overhaul, one of President Donald Trump's top priorities.

With the Senate bill delayed by a few weeks and maybe more, the timeline of the effort -- and the overall viability of a years-long bid to dismantle Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act in favor of a Republican replacement -- was thrown into question.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged he simply did not have the votes, after a grim, non-partisan forecast projected the bill would leave 22 million fewer people insured by 2026, as compared to current law.

The ideological differences between conservatives and moderates were so stark that it became clear that leadership did not even have the 50 votes in the 100-member chamber needed to simply begin debate on the bill.

The Senate delay is a huge blow to Trump and Republican lawmakers who have spent the last seven years plotting an end to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

It also highlights the deep ideological divides within the party over how to improve the health care system while not cutting millions of Americans out of insurance coverage.

In another blow to Trump, his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord has triggered a bipartisan push from US mayors to stick to the emissions cuts Washington had pledged to hit, the mayor of Atlanta said Tuesday.

Mayor Kasim Reed said he was sending a signal of "optimism, passion and action" on fighting climate change to mayors worldwide despite the pullout Trump announced this month.

Reed said he had attended a meeting in Miami on Saturday where more than 300 US mayors from both the Democratic and Republican parties pledged to honour the commitments Trump's predecessor Barack Obama agreed to in Paris.