--- description: Stephen Colbert delivered "sad news" about the GOP health care bill, announcing that it had been "pronounced dead of terminal sucking" title: Stephen Colbert: GOP Health Care Bill Suffered From ‘Terminal Sucking’ image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf25a0f47901a0fb/6988d63d97cdff689b6b1a5d/stephen-colbert-health-care-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Stephen Colbert: GOP Health Care Bill Suffered From ‘Terminal Sucking’  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 19, 2017 12:09 PM CUT  The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during the June 8, 2017 show. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during the June 8, 2017 show.Scott Kowalchyk—CBS/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 19, 2017 12:09 PM CUT _Late Show_ host Stephen Colbert delivered “sad news” about the [Republican Senate health care bill](http://time.com/4862315/health-care-bill-collapse-crossroads/?xid=homepage "undefined"), announcing that it had been “pronounced dead of terminal sucking.” [Opposition](http://time.com/4862315/health-care-bill-collapse-crossroads/?xid=homepage "undefined") from two more GOP senators this week made it clear that the bill lacked the votes to pass. An [alternative effort](http://time.com/4862750/health-care-congress-repeal-delay/ "undefined") to simply repeal the Affordable Care Act and then work on a replacement law also failed on Tuesday. “It was always a long shot because the Republicans control only all three branches of government. Can’t be expected to do everything,” Colbert said [on his show Tuesday night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZF2zlRP10c "undefined"). “It is hard to overstate the level of failure here,” he added. “The GOP crushed their car at 90 miles an hour into a cliff with a grin on their face. It’s like if _Batman v. Superman_ took a Pontiac Aztek to Blockbuster to rent _The Lone Ranger_ and watched it on LaserDisc. That’s how badly they failed.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4864030/stephen-colbert-health-care-bill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4864030/stephen-colbert-health-care-bill/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert: GOP Health Care Bill Suffered From ‘Terminal Sucking’","datePublished":"2017-07-19T12:09:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:36:54.028Z","description":"\"It is hard to overstate the level of failure here\"","url":"https://time.com/4864030/stephen-colbert-health-care-bill/","keywords":["Television","Health Care","Congress","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf25a0f47901a0fb/6988d63d97cdff689b6b1a5d/stephen-colbert-health-care-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf25a0f47901a0fb/6988d63d97cdff689b6b1a5d/stephen-colbert-health-care-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert","caption":"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert","creditText":"Scott Kowalchyk—CBS/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4864030/stephen-colbert-health-care-bill/","name":"Stephen Colbert: GOP Health Care Bill Suffered From ‘Terminal Sucking’"}}]}] ```