This first year of the Trump administration, and Republican-controlled government has been a rocky one to say the least. One of the first legislative agenda items of the GOP Senate and Mitch McConnell was to repeal Obamacare. This was of course, a years-old promise from the GOP. They failed time and time again, even with a majority. But Mitch McConnell learned from this, notching what looks more and more like a win on taxes.
How Did He do It?
McConnell urged President Trump to focus his lobbying on one of the lone GOP hold outs in the Senate, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. They carefully lobbied other Senators to ensure that they had things in the bill that would satisfy their constituents.
Tax reform has been on the back burner of the GOP agenda for far longer than Obamacare. It was clear that there never would be a consensus about how to reshape healthcare, but the tax code rewrites were always lingering.
McConnell also allowed the bill to go through Finance Committee mark-up, where Senators from both parties can offer suggestions and amendments. McConnell did not do that with the Obamacare repeal efforts. Lack of full Committee debate was one of the reasons Senator John McCain voted against repeal.
