A very tarnished silver lining

The GOP's numerical majority is not an ideological majority, and the collapse of the health care debate shows definitively that Senate (and probably House) Republicans are anything but ideologically aligned on major issues.

We were all told and believed something different, of course.

In their euphoria after the 2016 elections, the Trump administration and the congressional Republican leadership made it clear that everything from ACA repeal to tax reform to infrastructure would be a slam dunk because the GOP majorities in the House and Senate would move quickly to get everything done. The subtext was that they were together, unified and determined.

We now know that's just not true: Congressional Republicans are so divided that the White House's and leadership's original promise of quick, definitive action was the height of political hubris. The GOP's divisions on at least the major issues are much larger than the size of their majorities in both houses of Congress.


The Trump administration's arrogance is somewhat understandable given its political inexperience and unsophistication, but it's absolutely unforgivable from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

McConnell is an experienced legislator who is generally considered to be an excellent strategist. He should have known from the start that his 52 Republican senators would not be willing to sacrifice their parochial interests for a political win. He wouldn't have a majority for anything on health care if it was a GOP-only effort.


House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) is now showing McConnell-like political arrogance on the budget, tax reform and the debt ceiling increase that will be needed this fall. Ryan's 24-seat GOP majority will be as inadequate on those issues as McConnell's 2-seat majority was on ACA repeal and replace, and McConnell's 2-seat margin is almost certain to fail him again and again on these same fights.

Trump has already shown that his political arrogance is part of his DNA rather than just naivete. In a tweet this morning, the president showed what by now is his usual level of braggadocio.

We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2017

If Ryan and McConnell do the same, the entire Republican legislative agenda that up-to-now has been so arrogantly projected to to be a sure thing will fail.