The second bill was dismissed as veto bait, but Republicans were deemed to have scored a victory by detaching it and thereby removing Clinton's excuse to veto the larger bill.
Clinton vetoed the larger bill and the Republicans used that as partisan politics to score a victory
mnli hypothesis: Clinton vetoed the larger bill and the Republicans used that as partisan politics to score a victory premise: The second bill was dismissed as veto bait, but Republicans were deemed to have scored a victory by detaching it and thereby removing Clinton's excuse to veto the larger bill.