A more pressing issue for Republicans is whether, at long last, they can coalesce around an Obamacare replacement bill that they've promised for years but have never delivered. Around this time in 2014, then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor made an explicit pledge to conservatives that the House would vote on a GOP healthcare plan by the end of the year. He lost his primary three months later, and that promise was more or less forgotten. Now, the Republican leadership has assigned three committee chairmen, including 2012 vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, with the dual task of writing an Obamacare alternative and forming a contingency plan in case the Supreme Court votes this spring to wipe out insurance subsidies for people who signed up for coverage under the federal exchange. Republicans are praying for such a ruling, but they know they'd face immediate pressure from Democrats to help out several millions Americans who would suddenly be unable to afford their health insurance.

Both challenges could be impossible to overcome, for reasons Philip Klein ably explains at the Examiner. The GOP's lock-step unity in opposing Obamacare over the last four years obscures the party's stark divisions when it comes to healthcare policy. Individual Republicans have unveiled a number of serious proposals for replacing the Affordable Care Act, but the party has simply been unable to agree on key issues: How much should their plan expand coverage? How should they treat employer-based health insurance? Should they keep any of the more popular elements of Obamacare, like the ban on discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions? And as the Supreme Court ruling could demonstrate, the fact that the 2010 law is now fully implemented makes it that much more difficult to scrap it entirely.

As complicated as it is, don't expect any Obamacare replacement bill to come out for several months, if that. As Molly Ball noted last week, the new Republican majority isn't exactly off to a fast start. In the meantime, House leaders have to give their members something to do, and like the Keystone bill last month, repealing the health law is a piece of low-hanging fruit. It may not go much further than the GOP's last four dozen attempts, but it'll give the newbies something to brag about back home, and the leadership can get it out of the way.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.