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(L-R) Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus. Not pictured: what theyre holding in their left hands. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

In the wake of their failure to repeal Obamacare, Republicans have quickly pivoted to their next priority: maneuvering to pin the blame on each other for the failure. Some of the infighting has pitted Republicans in the Executive branch against those in the House. Some of it has pitted White House aides against each other. What follows is a guide to the latest developments in the partys fratricidal conflict.

President Trump wishes he didnt try to pass health-care reform before he tried infrastructure and tax cuts. According to CNN, Trump said he expressed regret at attempting to push through a health-care repeal effort before working on tax reform or an infrastructure package both areas in which hes better versed than health care. (Trump does not actually understand infrastructure policy or tax policy well at all, but he believes he does, which is not the case with health-care reform.)

Trump is trying to pass health-care reform anyway. The White House held a meeting last night with House leaders pressing upon them the need to pass a bill quickly. A House aide said Pence and other White House officials painted a dire political picture of what would happen if Republicans fail to act on health care, reports the Washington Post, which describes the meeting as intense.

Politico goes farther. It was really bad, one source says.They were in total meltdown, total chaos mode. Priebus may or may not have threatened Ryans job if the bill fails:

Priebus may get fired. One reason for the intensity of the meeting may be that Priebus himself is at risk of being sacked if the health-care bill does not pass. According to several people familiar with Trumps thinking, reports CNN, if this latest health-care gambit fails, Priebus is likely to catch the blame and could be shown the door.

Trump is also angry at Steve Bannon. The chief strategist urged Trump to ram a bill through the House and dare members to oppose it, eventually culminating in a humiliating retreat. Bannons demotion from his position on the National Security Council is universally seen as a public rebuke by the president.

Bannon is fighting back against his internal enemies. Bannon has lashed out at Jared Kushner and Gary Cohn, his internal rivals for Trumps ear. Bannon is calling Cohn Globalist Gary, according to CNN, an apparent reference to Cohns background at Goldman Sachs. (Bannon also worked at Goldman Sachs, but sees himself as less of a rootless cosmopolitan international-banking elitist.)

Jonathan Swan reports, the hatred between the two wings is intense and irreconcilable, and that the Bannonites believe the liberals another Bannonite term for the conventional Republicans advising Trump, who are not liberal staged a coup and will turn Trump into a conventional squish who betrays the very voters who brought him to power. The Jared wing thinks the Bannonites are clinically nuts. Evidence suggests both sides are correct.

[Steve] recently vented to us about Jared being a globalist and a cuckHe actually said cuck, as in cuckservative, one administration official told the Daily Beast. (Cuckservative is an alt-right term, derived from cuckolding, to impugn mainstream conservatives as metaphorically or sexually impotent. The term also refers to the white-supremacist fixation with the white race losing its identity through miscegenation.)

According to Swan, Bannon is threatening to use his connections to right-wing media moguls to attack his adversaries. Steve has developed strong and important relationships with some of the most powerful right-leaning business leaders, a close Bannon ally outside of the White House tells Swan. I see some bad press in [Jareds] future.

The civil war is percolating down through the bureaucracy. According to another Politico story, many or even most agencies are riven with conflicts between Trump loyalists, who expected high positions in the administration, and regular Republicans, who have largely supplanted them.

There are people who moved here and signed a year lease, one longtime campaign staffer tells Politico. They got nothing for their loyalty to Trump. Were pissed off. Were angry. There are people who cant even look us in the eye because they know theyre [screwing] us.

The actual reasons for the failure of the health-care bill boil down to two things: first, the irreconcilable tension between public desire for more generous coverage and conservative demands for less, and the complete policy ignorance of the president, which made intra-party negotiation prohibitively difficult.

Obviously, those are not explanations Trump wants to hear. At the moment, he appears to be leaning toward the answers supplied to him by Kushner and Cohn. Bannon is reportedly telling people, I love a gunfight. But you dont bring a gun to the Night of the Long Knives.

This Golden Revival of Girls Is Notable Mostly for Putting All Four Girls in the Same Scene

A Brief Fact Check of Trumps Claim to Have Enjoyed 13 Weeks of Historic Success

The strikes would likely kill Russian soldiers and mark 180-degree shift in the White Houses policy towards Syria.

The House district represented by Mike Pompeo looked unassailable just days ago. No more.

It has not been successful or 13 weeks.

The president is reportedly weighing military action in Syria.

Its been tried, and it didnt work the first time.

The Trump administration has assembled a long list of popular, left-wing policies that it has shown no intention of actually trying to pass.

Its the Night of the Long Knives for the fine-tuned machine.

The long-awaited GOP move to force confirmation of Neil Gorsuch and future nominees by a simple majority has finally happened.

The boats dont yet have names, so the citys second-graders are tasked with picking them.

And in the process, ensures its published on news sites across the world.

Nunes will leave the gig to spend more time defending himself against ethics charges.

The presidents eldest son says the politics bug bit him.

To prepare for his meeting with Xi Jinping, Trump is relying on the expertise of his son-in-law, an oil executive, and a 93-year-old man.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights calls it ISISs largest mass killing of 2017.

It hurt the Democrats in the short run. But new polling confirms that the ACA gave the left a permanent advantage in the health-care debate.

Hes been clashing with Jared Kushner, and the President Bannon meme is said to be getting to Trump.

Making evidence-free accusations has worked out pretty well for him, so he probably wont.

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Republicans Tearing Each Other to Pieces Over Trumpcare Debacle - New York Magazine

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton mocked Republicans for not being able to repeal Obamacare, saying that it was gratifying to see them be defeated in their efforts.

She made the comments to Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times at Tina Browns eighth annual Women in the World Summit in New York City.

The commitment to hurt so many people that his administration, Clinton told the audience, this White House, seems to be pursuing you know there are so many examples in just the first hundred days.

And then of course what they did or tried to do to the health care bill, she explained, which I did, I will confess to this. Having listened to them talk about repeal and replace for eight years, or seven years now, and they had not a clue what that meant. They had no idea.

I dont know that any of them even read the bill, she mocked, read the law, understood how it worked. It was so obvious. And yknow, health care is complicated. Right?

And so, they dont know what to do, she concluded to applause. I do admit that was somewhat gratifying.

The Obamacare replacement bill by the Republicans was called the American Health Care Act, but many referred to is as Obamacare lite because they believed it didnt repeal enough of Obamacares destructive policies.

The GOP replacement bill was defeated when the House Freedom Caucus of conservative Republicans refused to back it. After the sponsors of the bill changed it to meet some of their demands, it lost support from moderate Republicans, and was pulled from a vote.

Trump has since said hell turn to moderate Democrats to get a bill passed, but Freedom Caucus allies believe he is bluffing in order to negotiate for his political objectives.

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Hillary says it was 'gratifying' to see Republicans fail on Obamacare repeal - TheBlaze.com

New York Times

Republican Health Proposal Would Undermine Coverage for Pre-existing Conditions New York Times Throughout the debate to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, President Trump and Republican congressional leaders have insisted they would retain a crucial, popular part of the health law: the promise that people can buy insurance even if they ... Republicans try to revive health-care effort as leaders seek to temper expectationsWashington Post White House Quietly Submits New Health Care Proposal to House RepublicansInc.com How Republicans are working to revive the health care billCNN Christian Science Monitor -New Republic -News965 all 2,677 news articles »

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Republican Health Proposal Would Undermine Coverage for Pre-existing Conditions - New York Times

OWATONNA For area Republicans, Saturday was filled with energy, celebration and optimism after a election cycle that gave the party control of the Minnesota Legislature, U.S. Congress and the White House.

Its a great day to be a Republican. Every day is, said Carol Stevenson, First District Republican chairwoman, before calling to order the First District Republican Convention at Trinity Lutheran Church in Owatonna.

The convention drew more than 150 delegates from at least 20 south central and southeastern Minnesota counties to vote on party business, elect new district officers and hear from GOP legislators about what the party is doing locally, regionally and nationally in the aftermath of a momentous election.

Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, was the first of several area legislators to address those in attendance about the work Senate Republicans have been doing at the state capitol this session, including passing a health insurance premium relief bill and a transportation bill that funds the four-lane expansion of Highway 14 from Owatonna to Dodge Center.

Nelson said the next big issue Senate Republicans plan to address is an omnibus budget bill, which they hope to release Monday or Tuesday.

It gives us a full month to work with the House, but really our biggest adversary is Gov. Dayton. He has a totally different view as weve seen the last six years, and we know how devastating that is to Minnesotans, she said.

Jabs were taken at Gov. Mark Dayton, Congressman Tim Walz, who announced his candidacy for governor early last week, and the Democratic Party and policies and actions theyve supported throughout the event, including the Affordable Care Act.

When Minnesota Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt took the stage with a warm welcome, he recognized the districts representatives, including John Petersburg, Brian Daniels and Peggy Bennett, who are a part of the largest Republican majority in history following a presidential election and acknowledged the Republican Senate majority, too, before expanding upon Daytons very different vision for Minnesota.

He touched on Daytons support of transit, universal Pre-K and doing everything he can to give licenses to undocumented immigrants and voiced the Republicans' resistance to the governor and state DFLs wasteful spending.

If we let [Gov. Dayton] spend what he wanted to, we would have a $3 billion deficit, but this year we have new battles on our hands and this wont surprise you a bit. Even with this record surplus Gov. Dayton is proposing $1.3 billion in new taxes. Thats his vision for Minnesota, Daudt said.

Daudt garnered applause and cheers when he provided two pieces of good news in which one included the next two years are Daytons last before calling for a unified commitment to electing a Republican governor in 2018.

If we can do that it will be the first time in state history that Republicans have had complete control of state government and that would be our opportunity to make Minnesota great again, he said.

Because of that Daudt believes the 2018 election cycle will be really exciting, energetic.

Outgoing Minnesota GOP Chairman Keith Downey agreed and said hes highly optimistic about the future of the party in the state.

Downey, whose second two-year term as state party chair ends May 1, said when he was elected party chair in 2013, the Republican party was very much in the ditch, but things have turned around.

We have the potential to make Minnesota red in 2018, he said, noting with Walz running for governor in 2018, the first district has a great shot at picking up the congressional seat and holding onto it.

On April 29, state Republicans will elect a new chair and a new deputy chair at the state central convention in St. Cloud. Each of the candidates for those positions Jennifer Carnahan, Chris Fields, David Hann and Rick Rice spoke at the convention Saturday. Andy Aplikowski, Jennifer Dejournett and David Pascoe are the candidates for state deputy party chair.

At the convention Saturday, the district elected its officers. Jeremy Munson was elected chair, Joel Hanson was elected deputy chair, Chris Styndl was elected treasurer, Spencer Krier was elected secretary and Josh Anderson was elected state executive committee representative.

Reach reporter Ashley Stewart at 444-2378 or follow her on Twitter.com @OPPashley

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Area Republicans optimistic about future in Minnesota, nation - Southernminn.com

WASHINGTON - Now that Democrats have the votes to sustain a filibuster, moderate Republican senators are preparing themselves to vote for the controversial rule change known as the "nuclear option" in order to get Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court. It's a vote they say they don't want to make, but feel that Democrats are forcing their hand.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who previously stopped short of saying how she would vote on the nuclear option, argued that both parties "will rue the day" that led to the likely rule change.

"If it's necessary in order to get him confirmed, I may have to vote that way, but I certainly don't want to," Collins told reporters Monday night.

The nuclear option would lower the threshold for breaking a filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee from 60 to 51, meaning the majority party could approve a nominee on a party line vote.

Democrats and some Republicans acknowledge it will drastically change the Senate into a more partisan institution, even though Democrats themselves used the nuclear option in 2013 over the protests of Republicans to make a similar rule change for all other presidential nominations.

By permanently nixing the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees in the future, critics say it will give the party in power all the leverage and eliminate the Senate's tradition of needing at least some bipartisanship to advance nominees.

Collins said she was "very troubled" that Democrats "put us in the situation" and that they'll regret it one day because the rule change will make it easier for presidents to get more ideological justices approved for the Supreme Court down the road.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, should he proceed to the nuclear option, needs only a simple majority of 51 to vote for a change in rules. It's possible McConnell will have his whole party -- 52 votes -- behind him, but not all Republicans have explicitly said they will back him in the effort.

He can only afford to lose two Republican senators, in which case Vice President Mike Pence would be needed to break a tie. If McConnell loses more than three Republicans, the rule change would not pass.

Collins said Gorsuch deserves to be on the high court and that she's "committed" to making sure he gets confirmed. While she said she worked with Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin to try and hammer out a deal between the two parties, she said it was "not successful" and doubts there is any other option left but to go nuclear.

"And I think that is truly tragic," she said. "It gets bad for the Senate as an institution, and I think it is bad for the court, as well."

Other moderate Republicans didn't want to directly confirm they would vote for the rule change, even as they suggested they would if it was needed to get Gorsuch confirmed.

"I'm going to vote for Judge Gorsuch," was all Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, would say when asked if she would vote for the change in rules.

Pressed again if that meant she would vote for the rule change, she would not directly answer the question. "Meaning I'm going to support Judge Gorsuch," Murkowski replied.

When a reporter noted again that she had not actually answered the question, Murkowski responded: "I am working to get Judge Gorsuch confirmed to Supreme Court. That' s my interest," perhaps hinting that she would support nuclear option but perhaps not.

She's not the only Republican declining to directly answer the question.

Senators don't exactly want to go on the record saying they're in support of the rule change -- in fact, many of them personally aren't. Rather, they're only using language saying they'll confirm Gorsuch, one way or the other, and blaming Democrats for putting them in the situation.

Moderates are concerned about how voters in their states -- including Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans -- will react to them voting for the nuclear option.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, was equally vague when it came to saying if he would vote for the nuclear option. When a reporter asked why he was being coy, he denied it.

"I'm not being coy at all. Of course, I'm going to vote to confirm Judge Gorsuch. I'm absolutely outraged about what the Democrats are doing," Alexander said, again without directly answering the question. "I will vote to confirm Judge Gorsuch one way or another. One way or the other I'll vote for him. I've said everything I've got to say about it."

Conservative Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi was part of bipartisan talks in 2013 to avert the nuclear option when Democrats were considering -- and ultimately used -- the rule change on lower court judges.

On Gorsuch, he says Republicans will do whatever it takes.

"The Senate will confirm Judge Gorsuch despite the filibuster," he told CNN.

Democrats, meanwhile, push back by saying Republicans launched the ultimate filibuster last year by blocking President Barack Obama's pick of Merrick Garland from getting a hearing or committee vote, keeping the seat vacant until a new president was sworn in.

Pressed by reporters on whether he will vote for the nuclear option, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley refused to say yes. But he insisted that he is "going to do whatever it takes" to get Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.

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Frustrated Republicans prepare for the nuclear option - ABC15 Arizona