Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, was perhaps the most blunt when he said on Twitter over the weekend that the 52 Republican senators should “be ashamed that we have not passed health reform by now.” He added, in all caps for emphasis: “WE WONT BE ASHAMED WE WILL GO FROM MAJORITY TO MINORITY.”

Leadership vows to cut off recess are a staple of congressional theater, used as a ploy to force lawmakers to address an issue or face the prospect of seeing their overseas fact-finding trips canceled. But the threats usually produce some action and are very rarely acted upon. The fact that Mr. McConnell felt compelled to actually abbreviate the recess, just days after Republicans were snickering at the very idea, underscored the seriousness of his party’s plight.

Republicans had other motives for acting. Some anticipated that President Trump would happily whack them on Twitter if they fled as previously scheduled in a couple of weeks without first completing a health care bill. He had foreshadowed that possibility earlier this week with a tweet across the bow: “I cannot imagine that Congress would dare to leave Washington without a beautiful new HealthCare bill fully approved and ready to go!”

The recess also made for miserable optics given the scant list of achievements Republicans have posted in what is often the most productive time for an empowered new president and his allies in Congress. Skepticism abounded in the Capitol on Tuesday as to whether the extra two weeks would be all that worthwhile, but it seemed to Republicans to be a better option than returning home or heading off on vacation.

“I don’t know how you go on a full-month recess without getting it done,” Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, said of the health care bill.