Repealing Obamacare was supposed to be a slam-dunk for Donald Trump.
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Instead, its initial failure rattled the new President in his first days in office, giving him a rude awakening on everything that is frustrating about Washington.
Despite the latest flurry of activity on the Hill Wednesday night, Trump's campaign promise to gut his predecessor's landmark health care law looks certain to remain unfulfilled anytime soon. But it won't be for a lack of trying.
Even as late as Thursday morning, House Republicans were trying to make progress bridging an internal party divided between conservatives and moderates, releasing legislative language on an amendment in hopes of having a last-minute vote before the 100-day deadline Saturday.
From the beginning of Trump's term, the President, together with House Speaker Paul Ryan, was quick to make health care overhaul his most urgent legislative priority of 2017, staking an enormous amount of political capital on a goal that has rallied and united Republicans for nearly to decadence. But rather than notching an early win, Trump instead suffered an embarrassing defeat when the Republican health care bill was yanked from the House floor last month.
The votes simply weren't there.
But the flurry discussions leading up to that dramatic moment gave Trump an invaluable crash course in governing. Perhaps the biggest takeaway: legislating with a fractured GOP requires political agility and political sophistication – and more than just a willingness to negotiate.