US President Donald Trump has said he wants to wait until after the 2020 election to draft a new healthcare plan to replace the Affordable Care Act.
The move reverses Mr Trump’s call last week to quickly scrap ex-President Obama’s signature law, taking some Republicans in Congress by surprise.
It comes as the justice department backed a lawsuit aiming to strike down the healthcare law as unconstitutional.
At least 20 million people could lose health coverage if the law is scrapped.
It is unclear with what Republicans would replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, if the courts rule to abolish the law before the 2020 presidential election.
In a series of tweets on Monday evening, Mr Trump wrote that a “vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House”.
