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Senate Republicans have finally fulfilled their long quest to pass legislation repealing President Obama’s landmark health care law, and Congress will soon send the measure to the White House, where it might have a chance of being folded into origami or a fleet of paper airplanes, but no possibility of being signed into law. ... So, what next? It is unclear that lawmakers have drawn constructive lessons from the experience, and there is no sign that either party will use the repeal vote as a cathartic turning point onto a more cooperative path. (Herszenhorn, 12/4)

Senate Republicans Thursday employed a special budget maneuver to pass a bill that would repeal the 2010 health care law and strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding for a year. The tactic allowed them to get around the Senate’s usual 60-vote threshold; this one could pass with a simple majority. The White House has said President Barack Obama would veto the bill, so the measure is largely symbolic. At the same time, the open amendment process involved in passing the bill, known as a reconciliation measure, ended up putting some senators on the record on some hot-button issues and on aspects of the health care law itself. The votes could provide a window into the kind of support some of these measures could get as standalone bills, if senators were to bring them up. They also could be used by the opponents of incumbents running for re-election next year (or running for president). As a result several of these votes could have meaning down the line. (Armour and Hughes, 12/4)