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News on Tuesday that on-camera interviews might be significantly curtailed within the Capitol is an on-the-nose manifestation of something that had otherwise not attracted a lot of attention: The Republican effort to replace Obamacare was being put together almost entirely outside of the publics ability to see what was happening.

When White House press secretary Sean Spicer first addressed the Republican health-care bill that would eventually pass the House last month, he was effusive that his partys caucus on Capitol Hill would do things differently.

One of the things thats important to understand about this process, thats very different from when the Democrats did it, Spicer said, referring to the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.

Everybody can read it, and its going to go through what they call regular order, he said. Were not jamming this down anybodys throat. Its going to go through a committee process. All parties involved, all representatives in the House will be able to have input into it. I think thats the way to conduct this process, is to do it to allow people to watch the process happen in the committees, allow members of Congress to have their input in it, to make amendments, to see that we get the best bill that achieves the goal for the American people.

He blamed the Democratic secrecy he was maligning for the final shape of the bill. When it was done the last time, it was jammed down peoples throats. And look what happened, he said,

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan made similar commitments. But thats not at all how the Republican bill has unfolded.

Now that the Republican health-care bill has passed the House, there's a whole other set of obstacles it faces in the Senate. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

After rushing the original version through committee in the House and getting an unfavorable assessment of its effects from the Congressional Budget Office, Republican leaders realized they didnt have the votes for their bill, the American Health Care Act, to pass. (This was compounded by broad public outcry against the bill.) It was tabled for a while, until two amendments were crafted to make the bill palatable to enough Republicans to hit a majority in the House. Those amendments were added at the last minute, and a vote to pass the AHCA was held before the CBO could assess its effects.

It was generally assumed that the bill didnt have much of a chance in the Senate. But that was before a small group of senators began working in private to develop a bill that might pass that body. And when we say in private, thats underselling the point.

Only a small group of senators know whats in the bill. An aide to one of the Republican senators working on it told Axios that no draft would be released because we arent stupid meaning, apparently, that they knew better than to open up the bill to public criticism before the vote. The plan, apparently, is to send the bill to the CBO for a score before it is then released to the public.

Senators were reportedly going to be informed about options for the contents of the bill during a luncheon on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, after which the bill would be finalized and sent for scoring, with the goal of a vote before July 4.

This is the point when senators learned more details about the proposed bill at which the prohibition on televised interviews was issued.

The prohibition apparently came from the Senate Rules Committee, run by the Republican caucus. But not every Republican on that committee was aware that any rules for interviews had been changed, nor was the ranking Democrat.

(Update: Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) released a statement denying that any rules had been changed.)

It could be a coincidence that this issue emerged now. The Post reported last week about crowding in the Capitol as reporters jostled for interviews. This change does have the effect, though, that senators will be able to avoid answering questions on camera about a bill that they recognize is not popular. (A poll released last week found that only 17 percent of the country approved of the House bill.)

How far might a Republican go to avoid answering questions about the health-care bill? One extreme example: Greg Gianforte of Montana assaulted a reporter rather than answer questions about the bill the day before being elected to the House from that state. By contrast, shutting off television cameras is downright passive.

A prohibition on cameras is a tangible demonstration of the lack of transparency thats carrying the day on Capitol Hill. At some point, the Republican bill will become public, and American voters can judge it for themselves. Until that point, though we (and many of our elected leaders) are in the dark.

We are coming up with something that I believe will be very good, President Trump said of the bill on Monday. Its not clear from that remark if hes seen the actual legislation either.

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The remarkable steps Republicans are taking to obscure what's in their health-care bill - Washington Post

A number of Republicans are already weighing challenges to Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.

Several would-be GOP candidates turned up in Billings over the weekend, suggesting there could be a crowded Republican primary to select a Tester challenger. Montana Republican Party delegates met in Billings last Friday and Saturday to select new party leadership.

The would-be candidates include Troy Downing, of Big Sky; Scott Roy McLean, of Missoula; and Kalispell legislator Albert Olszewski; plus a couple other prospects who are sniffing around.

Yellowstone County District Judge Russell Fagg has only said hell consider a run for public office after retiring from the bench in October. Nonetheless, the former state Republican legislator took the opportunity to introduce himself to convention attendees last Friday.

Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale kept a close eye on Senate prospects. Rosendale hasnt said whether he will run for U.S. Senate. Asked by The Gazette on May 31 if he would run for federal office, Rosendale said he would first focus on any insurance changes brought about by the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and then decide.

Another Republican eyeing a run, Kurt Allen Cole of Troy, missed the Billings event, but told The Gazette on Friday hes exploring a candidacy.

Debra Lamm, the newly elected chairwoman of the Republican Party, said conservatives haven't been happy with several Tester votes, including his opposition to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Tester's support for the Iran Nuclear weapons deal also rubbed Republicans the wrong way and stirred interest in political challengers.

Downing said the success of President Donald J. Trump and Congressman-elect Greg Gianforte, neither of whom had previously been elected, is a sign that voters are looking for an outsider.

I dont care how smart you are, how good you are, how well-intentioned you are. I think after a certain period you become so institutionalized, you no longer think like a normal American, Downing said.

Not by coincidence, Downing said politicians stop thinking like the electorate after about 12 years. Testers current tenure is 11 years. Downing, who lives in Big Sky, is the head of a California-based self-storage company. He been in the Big Sky area since 1998.

Cole, a former vermiculite miner who suffers from asbestosis after his years working for W.R. Grace in Libby, said there arent enough common men in federal politics. The 64-year-old Montana native has done ranch work, milled lumber and mined coal. Friends encouraged him to turn his practical experience to the Senate.

Scott is a Hamilton attorney specializing in estate and business law. He was previously a law clerk for the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he worked closely with Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch.

Olszewski was the first candidate to publicly show interest in challenging Tester. A state legislator, Olszewski is an orthopedic surgeon from Kalispell.

Interest in challenging Tester picked up after Montana Attorney General Tim Fox announced June 5 that he would not run for U.S. Senate. Fox had been considered the most likely Republican pick.

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Republicans are already lining up to challenge Tester - Billings Gazette

This weeks awkward and fawning Cabinet meeting is no surprise, given the G.O.P.s reliance on the President to distract from the Partys reactionary agenda.CreditPHOTOGRAPH BY OLIVIER DOULIERY / POOL VIA BLOOMBERG

Donald Trump is the first President in history to have a Cabinet meeting go viral. If you havent seen it yet, you must watch thevideo of Trump going around the tableon Monday morning and eliciting gushing testimonials and expressions of loyalty from his own appointees.

Mike Pence set the tone, saying, The greatest privilege of my life is to serve as Vice-President to a President who is keeping his word to the American people, assembling a team that is bringing real change, real prosperity, real strength back to our nation. Elaine Chao, the Transportation Secretary, thanked Trump for getting the country moving again.Sonny Perdue, the Agriculture Secretary, assured the President, I just back got from Mississippi: they love you there.Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, described working for Trump as great honor. And Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, thanked the President for the opportunity and the blessing that you have given us to serve your agenda and the American people.

So it wentpart North Korean Politburo rah-rah session and part opening scene from The Godfather. A willingness to genuflect before a thin-skinned egomaniac is the price of serving inor working closely withthis Administration. But why are so many powerful people willing to pay this price?

In his remarks on Monday, Priebus, the former head of the Republican National Committee, offered a clue to the answer. Priebuss use of the word blessing rightly earnedhim some ridicule, but his assurance to Trump that the machinery of government was working to further your agenda was much more significant. Clearly, Priebus and his fellow-Republicans want Trump to believe that the agenda being advanced in Washington today is his, and for the Presidents supporters to believe this, too. But thats not necessarily accurate.

In Trumps campaign speeches, his biggest applause lines came when he promised to prevent people from Muslim countries from entering the United States, when he pledged to build a wall onthe border with Mexico, and when he advocated protectionist measures to save American jobs. Trump generated support and momentum for his campaign by offering voters an inflammatory brew of Islamophobia and economic nationalism. Today, however, this agenda is largely stalled. The courts have rejected the anti-Muslim travel ban, and Congress has rejected the wall. Meanwhile, Trump himself has embraced the Saudi Arabian monarchy, which helped popularize Islamist extremism, and has backed off from his threats to withdraw from NAFTA and impose hefty tariffs on goods from Mexico and China.

In the place of Trumpism, the Trump Administration is promoting and facilitating a much less popular agenda, which will end up hurting many Trump voters: the anti-government agenda of post-Reagan Republicanism.Controversial policies that conservatives have wanted to introduce for years are making their way through legislative and administrative processes.To be sure, the progress has been uneven, and the Trump Administration still hasnt passed a landmark piece of legislation. But look closely.

Inthe Senate, a group of Republicans isquietly working on a health-care bill that, it seems, will largely mimic the toxic American Health Care Act, which the House of Representatives passed last month. (Under the A.H.C.A., subsidies for purchasing health insurance would be reduced; premiums would go up, especially for the sick and elderly; andMedicaid would be slashed.)Just as radical as the contents of the bill is the way that it is being developed in utter secrecy. Evidently, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, intends to keep it under wraps until a few days before he forces a floor vote, which was the same tactic that Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, used in the lower chamber. If things go according to plan, there will be no committee hearings, no input from outside groups, and no independent scoring of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office.

House Republicans, meanwhile,passed the Financial CHOICE Act, last week, which takes aim at the Dodd-Frank financial-reform act of 2010. The House bill would eliminate or weaken many elements of Dodd-Frank, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which helped uncover that Wells Fargo was ripping off many of its customers.On the campaign trail, Trump promised to crack down on Wall Street. But, after the election, he quickly abandoned that promise. On Monday, the Treasury Department issueda report on financial regulationthat endorsed loosening many of the post-financial-crisis restrictions that banks face.

Legislation is only part of the story. On the Supreme Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch is already demonstrating why the Heritage Foundation and other right-wing groups were so giddy about his nomination. And, at regulatory institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board, Trump has appointed, or is in the process of appointing, officials who hew to the lines laid down by conservative think tanks and their corporate donors.

About the only areas that Trump has ruled off-limits are Social Security and Medicare. And even here Republicans are exploiting his ignorance, or lack of interest, in order to make cuts. Enacting the American Health Care Act woulddeplete the Medicare Trust Fund. AndTrumps own budgetwouldcut disability-insurance benefits, which are part of the Social Security system.

Trump isnt merely enabling the Republican right; with his daily pratfalls and incendiary statements, he is also drawing attention away from the Partys policy initiatives.Imagine for a moment if a more normal Republicana Marco Rubio or a Jeb Bush or a John Kasichwere in the White House. With no James Comey, Robert Mueller, or Jeff Sessions to chew on, the news networks would surely be focussing on health-care reform and the scandalous manner in which the G.O.P. is trying toram through a piece of legislation that would affect a sixth of the American economy and cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their insurance.

Back in the nineteen-seventies, Lord Hailsham, an eminent British jurist, popularized a term for this type of behavior: elective dictatorship. He applied it to the British system, in which a government that has a healthy majority in Parliament can ride roughshod over the opposition. With Trump in the White House and the Republicans running Capitol Hill, elective dictatorship appears to have crossed the Atlantic.

Small wonder, then, that so many Republicans are willing to kiss Trumps ring. Hes given the G.O.P. what it has long wanted: a White House willing to go along with its reactionary agenda, and a President who provides it with political cover. As long as Trump sticks to his side of the deal, he can expect to receive the loyalty he so prizes.

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Why So Many Republicans Still Grovel to Trump - The New Yorker

MSNBC

Republicans lack public support for new health care scheme MSNBC Americans' support for the ACA has never been higher, and the health care reform measure is nearly 10 percentage points more popular than Donald Trump, the Republican president desperate to destroy the law that's lowered the uninsured rate to its ... and more »

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Republicans lack public support for new health care scheme - MSNBC

Senate Judicary Committee members partake in a hearing on Russian interference on May 8th.

By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

After finally passing a health-care bill and handing it off to the Senate, Republican lawmakers have lapsed into a disconcerting silence. While political divisions remain between moderate and conservative senators, negotiations are reportedly accelerating behind closed doors as the G.O.P. inches closer to fulfilling a nearly decade-long dream: repealing Obamacare, lowering taxes, cutting government subsidies, and shrinking Medicaid. Of course, theres been little reporting on their progress, primarily because Senate Republicanshaving learned their lessons from the very public failures of their House colleaguesarent speaking to the media. There are no plans for public hearings on the legislation, which is overwhelmingly unpopular. And, according to two senior G.O.P. senate aides who spoke to Axios, there are no plans to release the draft text.

We arent stupid, one Senate aide told Caitlin Owens, who reports that the negotiations could be wrapped as early as this week. Unlike Democrats, who held 36 days of hearings on Obamacare, Republicans would reportedly send their legislation straight to the Congressional Budget Office to be scored. We are still in discussions about what will be in the final product so it is premature to release any draft absent further member conversations and consensus.

The same Senate Republicans who criticized Democrats for ramming through Obamacarewhich the full Senate debated for 25 straight days in 2009 before passing itare now hoping to vote on the American Health Care Act by the beginning of their summer recess on July 4. More than 20 million people are expected to lose or drop their insurance as a result of the legislation, which has not yet been shared with the public.

Senate Republicans may have learned a painful lesson from their House colleagues, who rapidly lost public support for their bill after the C.B.O. concluded that it would leave millions of people without insurance or access to essential health benefits. Democrats, however, are furious that the G.O.P. bill will not be exposed to public scrutiny until the last moment. We have no idea whats being proposed, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill said in a recent hearing. Theres a group of guys in a back room somewhere that are making these decisions. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted a photo of a blank piece of paper with the caption, BREAKING: Senate Republicans just released the schedule of hearings, committee markups and public testimony for their health care bill.

Even Republican senators who were not privy to the drafting process are concerned they are being kept in the dark. I want to know exactly whats in the Senate bill. I dont know yet, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson told Bloombergs Sahil Kapur. Its not a good process. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham acknowledged that this is not the best way to do health care, but said itt the way were having to do it.

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We Aren't Stupid: Why Republicans Are Keeping Their Health-Care Bill Secret - Vanity Fair