If Mitch McConnell’s price in the bargain with Trump was an almost free hand to transform the federal judiciary, Ryan’s was the tax cut package. “Once that effort was done, there was no next. There’s nothing next on the list,” said Michael Steel, a political strategist for House Republicans who had worked closely with Ryan’s predecessor as speaker, John Boehner. The bargain was simply less attractive for Ryan—and for Trump. Each had gotten what he could out of the other.
