WASHINGTON (TIP): President Donald Trump on Thursday, October 12, used his presidential powers to weaken Obamacare after fellow Republicans in Congress had failed to repeal the 2010 law which he loathed no end and have been itching to do away with.

Trump signed an executive order aimed at letting small businesses band together across state lines to buy cheaper, less regulated health plans for their employees with fewer benefits.

It is Trump’s first definitive step to dismantle Obamacare since taking office in January. He had promised during his election campaign that one of his top priorities will be to dismantle former President Barack Obama‘s signature domestic policy achievement.

Trump has come under severe criticism at the hands of Femocratic leaders for having taken to signing an executive order on the issue where Republicans had earlier failed in their repeated attempts to bring down Obamacare.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of “using a wrecking ball to single-handedly rip apart our healthcare system.”

“Having failed to repeal the law in Congress, the president is sabotaging the system”, Schumer said.

The House of Representatives in May passed Republican legislation to gut Obamacare. But attempts by Senate Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare failed in July and September, in part because the proposed legislation would have caused millions of Americans to lose healthcare coverage.

Republicans call Obamacare, which extended health insurance to 20 million people, a government intrusion into Americans’ healthcare, and have been promising for seven years to scrap it.

Trump’s order weakens Obamacare in part by giving people more access to plans that do not cover essential health benefits such as maternity and newborn care, prescription drugs, and mental health and addiction treatment.

Obamacare, known formally as the Affordable Care Act, requires most small business and individual health plans to cover those benefits.

The order also sought to change an Obama-era limit on the time span people can use short-term health insurance plans, which are cheaper but cover few medical benefits. Those plans are currently limited to three months.

Trump said the order was “only the beginning” and that his administration would take additional actions. He said he would “pressure Congress very strongly to finish the repeal and the replace of Obamacare once and for all.”

The action could open Mr. Trump to legal challenges from Democratic state attorneys general, who have said they will sue Mr. Trump if he tries to destroy Obamacare.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, said Trump’s executive order is just another step toward imploding the Affordable Care Act. “It should come as no surprise that California is prepared to fight in court to protect affordable healthcare for its people,” Becerra said. “We’re heading in a different direction.”

Trump has taken a number of other steps since January to weaken or undermine Obamacare. He has not committed to making billions of dollars of payments to insurers guaranteed under Obamacare, prompting many to exit the individual market or hike premiums for 2018.

The administration also halved the open enrolment period, which begins Nov. 1, and slashed the Obamacare advertising and outreach budget.