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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — For Republicans — who control every corner of this city — this should be a time of elation, running up the score on accomplishments. But their seven-year promise to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law has become an embarrassing, popcorn-worthy drama that evolves hourly around the tweeted whims of President Trump, who provides congressional Republicans with neither a policy blueprint to follow nor a bully pulpit on which to lean. The effort to rewrite the tax code — a durable Republican yearning — has been undermined by a budget fight in the House, an indecisive White House and the stalled health care effort, on which the tax changes were meant to rely. Even something that once easily unified Republicans — the desire to place sanctions on Russia — has unraveled in the House, creating the appearance that lawmakers are protecting the White House from a bill it does not want. An extended fight over the role of Congress in approving the use of force against the Islamic State set off another intraparty battle when Republican lawmakers joined Democrats to finally end the elastic post-9/11 authorization of military force against Al Qaeda, which has been used for every war ever since. Then, Republican leaders used their powers to strip the measure away in the dark of night. Some Republican senators, like Dean Heller of Nevada, should be gearing up for fights with Democratic challengers next year, but instead are trying to duck primary threats insp... Link to the full article to read more