Story highlights Julian Zelizer says health care bill still has many problems, but wary Republicans caved to their leaders on procedural vote

The procedural vote Tuesday was a vote for blind party loyalty, not deliberation and not sound public policy, he says

Julian Zelizer, a history and public affairs professor at Princeton University and a CNN political analyst, is the author of "The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society." He's co-host of the "Politics & Polls" podcast. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

(CNN) Republicans are celebrating their success at voting to bring the health care bill to the floor Tuesday, but none of the problems that have stalled their effort to repeal and replace Obamacare has really been solved.

Sen. Mitch McConnell passed the test of whether he could be as effective pushing forward legislation as he has been at obstructing bills. But the battle is far from done. The senator still needs to get legislation through the Senate and the conference committee that will pass both chambers. The legislation will have to survive the scrutiny of the parliamentarian if it is to qualify for passage through the budget reconciliation process, which only requires 50, rather than 60 votes, to pass.

The bones of the legislation remain highly problematic and deeply unpopular with broad swaths of the public. Even in red states, many citizens and health care providers are trembling as they think about what conditions will be like if some version of Trumpcare becomes the law. They fear what their future will look like if millions have lost their health care.

The vote on this legislation could be one of those historic moments in Congress when legislators face a moral test of conscience. Rather than allowing legislative debate to continue, as Sen. John McCain stressed in his speech, they would be voting on whether to take away health care coverage, unless the legislation changes radically during the floor debate. The political and moral risks that Republicans face from supporting the existing legislation are immense.

President Trump, notwithstanding his televised appeal, has been nothing but trouble for the GOP, constantly undermining Republican confidence in the ability of the White House to deliver and protect legislators, while failing to focus on selling this bill for more than a few hours. McConnell has also been unable to craft a piece of legislation that commands broad support within his own party, let alone among moderate Democrats. This is why most Republicans were voting yes to bring the bill to the floor without knowing what they will ultimately be voting on, a stunning display of the broken state of our congressional process.

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