In Congress, It's Do-or- Die Time For The GOP

Delays on the healthcare bill put tax reform by yearend in jeopardy

- Erik Wasson and Anna Edgerton, with Sahil Kapur

House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he wants to pass a sweeping overhaul of the tax code in time for deer-hunting season in Wisconsin, which opens around Thanksgiving. Whether he makes that deadline likely depends on how much work Republicans in Congress get done in July and August. If the past few months are any measure, it doesn’t look good.

Beginning July 11, when the House returned from its Fourth of July holiday, lawmakers had just 13 working days before their August recess was set to begin after July 28. When they get back in September, they’ll face a compressed schedule, when floor time is short, attention will be turning to the 2018 midterms, and two big problems will be looming: Republicans need to pass a spending bill before Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown; about a week later, they have to lift the debt ceiling to keep the U.S. from defaulting.

What was supposed to start with a lightning-strike repeal of President Obama’s signature health-care law in January has turned into a seven-month slog. A procedural shortcut Republicans set up for themselves is part of the problem. In January they adopted a 2017 budget resolution that allowed them to repeal Obamacare on a simple majority vote, without having to rely on Democrats. That was supposed to fast-track things, but instead it’s slowed their entire agenda as the health-care fight has exposed deep divisions within the GOP.