Within hours of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, Republican Congressional leaders targeted the repeal of the Affordable Car Act as a top priority.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan in separate news conferences Wednesday said they intend to address Obamacare as soon as possible with an eye to striking it from the books.

“It’s a pretty high item on our agenda,” McConnell said in a conference on Capitol Hill. “It’s the single worst piece of legislation among many bad pieces of legislation passed in the first two years of the Obama Presidency. The sooner we can go in a different direction the better.” 

[Gut check survey: How will Trump presidency affect healthcare? Also: Trump's 7-point plan for healthcare]

House Speaker Paul Ryan in Wisconsin echoed McConnell’s desire to end the law.

“This Congress, this House majority, this Senate majority has already demonstrated and proven that we’re able to pass that legislation and put it on the President’s desk,” Ryan said. “The problem is President Obama vetoed it. Now we have President Trump coming who is asking us to do this. ”

With Trump promising on the campaign trail to end Obamacare, and with Republican majorities in the House and the Senate, the law’s end appears to be a possibility.

The Republicans still must decide what will replace the law. Thus far, they have offered only general plans, such as giving states block grants for Medicaid, switching tax credits and expanding health savings accounts.

The GOP has a Senate majority but not the 60 votes needed to break a potential Democratic filibuster. Another alternative is to use the legislative process called reconciliation, which essentially would stop funding ACA implementation. 

McConnell would not say whether he intends to try using reconciliation again, or whether he’d pursue a repeal-and-replace course.

The lawmakers’ remarks come amid speculation that repealing President Barack Obama’s signature piece of legislation would leave nearly 20 million currently-insured American with no alternatives.

Conservatives are nonetheless looking forward to Obamacare’s end.

AMGA CEO Donald Fisher, for instance, congratulated Trump on winning the election.

"We are excited to work with his new team to continue to transition the financing of our healthcare system from volume-based to value-based payment,” Fisher said. “Every administration brings change, and I am confident that multispecialty medical groups and integrated delivery systems will play a key role in shaping the future of healthcare." 

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