August in D.C. is usually vacation season for Congress. It’s also campaign season for some, and town hall season and fund-raising season, too. But less obviously (should all go according to plan), it’s usually nip-and-tuck season for politicians looking to get a little surgical enhancement away from the 24-7 news cycle. D.C.-based plastic surgeon Ariel Rad told Vanity Fair on a recent phone call, “We try to be flexible with the political ebbs and flows in order to accommodate high-ranking officials and people who really don’t have a lot of time to take off. This August is definitely one of those times.”

The days ahead of the recess have long been a busy time for the plastic surgeons and dermatologists who help their congressional clients save face. Though not all aesthetic procedures require a ton of downtime, the heavy lifts, so to speak, can require an extended recovery period. What better time to schedule the work than when you have a breather from the Hill’s eyes? That’s been the thinking of many high-profile officials over the years—until now, the year of our Lord two thousand and seventeen, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in the heat of fighting the ultimately losing battle to repeal the Affordable Care Act, announced that he’s postponing the August recess to mid-month (the first time the political body has done so since 1994). And it’s not just senators who’ve been affected. On Thursday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy warned members to “remain flexible in their travel plans over the next few days.”

So while senators took working lunches and whipped votes as the G.O.P. tried, unsuccessfully, to torpedo Obamacare, it was back to the appointment books for D.C.’s plastic surgeons and dermatologists. “Since the August recess has been delayed by this health-care bill in particular, I have a sort of a backlog of patients who have been waiting for the dates to become much more clear so that they can schedule,” Dr. Rad explained. “Now the end of August is particularly busy with congresspeople.”