One of the central challenges opponents of Trumpcare face is that they must constantly probe the bill for signs of life. Like a monster in a horror film, it predictably revives itself whenever the good guys let their guard down.

Long ebbs of legislative action—such as we saw last week, when Congress was on a weeklong holiday recess—are useful insofar as they mean the bill hasn’t become law and opposition has had time to harden, but they can easily be mistaken for a final demise, which in turn breeds complacency. We know Republicans are still trying to spring their health care bill on the Senate, and turn it into law before Democrats have time to regroup.



But to switch metaphors somewhat abruptly, it is probably more useful for observers to think of the bill as a widget working its way through a machine that Republicans are struggling to keep in working order. Republicans have defined themselves by their opposition to the Affordable Care Act for years; they are to a considerable degree unable to stop themselves from trying to destroy it, no matter how reckless or politically damaging it would be for them to pass Trumpcare. Simply by setting a legislative process in motion, they have committed themselves to passing it. It is in the nature of legislatures to produce legislation no less than it’s in the nature of a combustion engine to produce power and exhaust—so long as it is in working order.

Right now that engine is rattling badly, but Republican leaders are hard at work to stop it from seizing altogether.

To keep the machinery running, Republicans have deployed a key tool: outright lying. In an encounter with constituents last week, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said, “There is no attempt to do away with the pre-existing condition issue [in place under Obamacare]. There is an attempt right now to build up the subsidy level so that people who are lower income can actually purchase health care.”