Some Republicans want to merge tax reform, health care

Graham-Cassidy is almost certainly dead, but some Republicans want to press on with health care — along with tax reform — through the 2018 budget, and momentum for the idea seems to be building. That way, Sept. 30 wouldn’t be their final deadline after all. “There’s a pretty vocal do both tax reform and healthcare with FY18 reconciliation camp,” one senior GOP Senate aide told me.

Why this matters: Some Senate Republicans don’t want to give up on health care, but others worry combining the two difficult topics will sink the tax reform effort. “We don’t have the political capital,” said the aide, who is in the latter camp. But as we’ve seen over the last 10 days, it becomes politically difficult for the GOP to ignore a glimmer of hope when it comes to repealing the Affordable Care Act.