Can This Relationship Survive?

For decades, a favorite pastime of the Washington press corps has been to find "daylight" between the president and the vice president—a difference of opinion, a dislike, a secret irritation. But not any more.

The media's obsession now is "daylight" between President Donald Trump and House speaker Paul Ryan. The media are not alone. Trump allies who detest Ryan are even more eager to find differences. Personal ones could explode the relationship between the speaker and the president, and a blowup is what they desire.

Is this petty? Sure, but political alliances have been shattered over small conflicts. And some Trump supporters want him to dump Ryan and his plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. This would be a mistake on Trump's part—and would delight the media and Democrats. Yet the Trump-Ryan tie is fragile.

There's an overriding factor that draws them together: Trump and Ryan need each other. The process of liquidating Obamacare is difficult. To prevent a Democratic filibuster in the Senate, Republicans are forced to use "reconciliation," which allows them, with 51 votes, to get rid of spending and taxes in Obamacare but leaves its regulations and broad framework in place. Reconciliation also requires a specific "Byrd rule" to be met. It's a necessary tool but hardly an efficient one.

Ryan's strength is that he has a plan. No one else does. Other Republicans have ideas: generally bad ones. Senator Lindsey Graham would let Obamacare collapse on its own. But this would cause millions to lose their health insurance and rates to rise. Republicans would be blamed. Senator Tom Cotton wants to put off a vote for months. That's not likely to ease passage of repeal and replace. And it would be viewed as a setback for Trump, Ryan, and the GOP agenda. At the least, it would be a temporary retreat.