House Speaker Paul Ryan finally got a major bill passed last week, and it reflected a learning process. Plenty of learning was needed not only because Ryan is new to the job and is by disposition a policy guy rather than a party enforcer, but also because corralling a majority has never been more difficult than during the Tea Party era.
The American Health Care Act, which repeals and replaces Obamacare, has plenty of shortcomings. Plenty of pitfalls also lie ahead of it. But it has become extraordinary for a major piece of legislation to clear the House of Representatives. So it’s worth studying what GOP leaders did differently this time, to see if there are any long-term lessons.
Here’s another way of asking the same question. What did Republican leaders learn from their embarrassing healthcare defeat in March when Ryan was forced to pull the bill for lack of votes?
The lesson, according to one Republican aide, was “we have to be on the same team” early on. Leaders decided to proceed in April and May with “a little bit more patience,” the aide said, “letting the process play itself out.”
In March, Republican leaders tried a centrally-controlled process. The second time around, they tried a collaborative process.
The first healthcare bill wasn’t quite crafted in secret and thrust on members, but it wasn’t that far off. Party leaders held hours of open-door sessions so lawmakers could stop by to provide input, concerns and argument. “Let’s hear everyone’s perspective on this,” was how one GOP aide put it. Republican leaders listened and then crafted their bill.
That early process was consultative, not collaborative. While everyone’s views were taken into account, it was the leadership that determined what was in the bill. There was no normal committee process with open and robust markups and amendment votes. The losers didn’t have a chance to put their ideas up for a vote, and so they didn’t hop on board to support the final bill.
The first good decision leaders made the second time around was to abandon artificial deadlines. The first bill was supposed to pass on the 7-year anniversary of Obamacare. So it was rushed and didn’t have the votes. The second time around, President Trump wanted the bill before his 100th day in office, but party leaders resisted that pressure.
The most important change was giving real agency to members of Congress, rather than simply seeking their input. Most notably, Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., a former insurance executive and notable centrist went back and forth with Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. The two spent April negotiating, and Ryan played the role of cheerleader, texting the two, encouraging them to keep up the discussion. Meanwhile, Ryan’s staff helped turn the ideas and proposals into legislative language.
Ryan became a facilitator rather than the decider. Conservatives, centrists, old hands, backbenchers all had a hand in actually writing the bill.
Maybe this process will prove replicable. Maybe the House GOP can pass tax reform and eventually pass actual appropriations bills rather than an omnibus and a continuing resolution.
Since the earmark ban and the decentralization of fundraising took away GOP leaders’ traditional tools, nobody has figured out how to run this party. But Ryan may be getting there.
At the same time, the House Freedom Caucus seems to be maturing from its role as the “Hell, No!,” caucus to a “How About This?” caucus. Supposedly intransigent, this bloc of conservatives played a central role in crafting the compromise that is the AHCA.
The lesson seems to be the same lesson school teachers taught us — involve others in your game, play niccely, and everyone ends up happier.
