"It's important for all of us to remember that reconciliation is a powerful tool but it is a limited tool," Price told the committee. "It's no silver budget and in order to ensure the success of this effort, we must respect those limitations." 

At the same time, however, the likely incoming speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, has made clear that he wants to lead a GOP caucus focused on achieving tangible center-right policies, not one in which members are constantly fighting each other to prove their commitment to pure right-wing ideology.   

It's not as if House Republicans have not had more than their say on the full PPACA. They have already voted scores of times to scrap the law entirely over the past five years, but they always did so in the with the knowledge that it would go nowhere in the Senate, whose rules require a vote from three-fifths of the chamber to advance any legislation.  

Reconciliation bills, however, are the big exception to Senate rules. Debate on them is strictly limited, which prevents the minority party from blocking them through a filibuster.  

And yet, even if the bill passes the Senate, it will undoubtedly be killed by President Obama's veto, which has no chance of being overridden. But having the entire Congress pass an Obamacare repeal will be considered a political victory for Republicans.