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Not super worried about the whole issue.

By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

It may surprise you to learn that, since January 20, 2017, Republicans have controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. Nearly five months into the Trump presidency, the G.O.P. has scored hardly any legislative wins. Obamacare is still kicking. No one who works on Capitol Hill has seen any details of Donald Trumps tax plan beyond the one-page outline the White House released last month. Infrastructure Week was overshadowed by Comeyghazi. Perhaps asking Republicans legislators to actually legislate was expecting too much. After all, theyve been out of practice for much of the last eight years. So, lets lower the bar: can Republicans stop the government from shutting down without any drama? Amazingly, the answer to that, too, appears to be no.

Despite the seemingly straightforward business of raising the debt ceiling, the G.O.P.-controlled House and Senate are struggling to keep the lights on. The trouble began during the Obama years, when the Republican Party turned the otherwise simple task into a perennially terrifying, market-roiling experience wherein the lawmakers periodically held the republic hostage in order to win policy concessions like budget cuts. Now, with a Republican president in the White House, its happening again.

In May, when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged Congress to get moving on raising the borrowing limit, insisting that time was of the essence, the House Freedom Caucus responded by saying, We demand that any increase of the debt ceiling be paired with policy that addresses Washingtons unsustainable spending by cutting where necessary, capping where able, and working to balance in the near future. Not helping Mnuchins case was White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, who explained last week that he would like to see things like spending cuts tied to any agreement to raise the debt ceiling. Amazingly, per the The New York Times, there are a number of House Republicans who believe that inaction on the debt ceiling would not result in a government default, as treasury secretaries from both parties have consistently warned.

The divisions within the G.O.P., of course, mean that Republicans will need help from Democrats, who are not exactly in a giving mood at the moment. I dont have any intention of supporting lifting the debt ceiling to enable the Republicans to give another tax break to the wealthy in our country, to further exacerbate the challenge that is created when they have their trickle-down economics, Nancy Pelosi said last week. Chiming in on Tuesday, Chuck Schumer added, Its going to be a lot harder to get the debt ceiling raised if our Republican colleagues insist on raising the deficit dramatically by huge tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans. Republicans might have a better shot at overcoming such obstacles if they provided a united front, or perhaps decided to drop the hostage-taking schtick altogether. Recent news suggests wed be so lucky.

More here:
How Many Republicans Does It Take to Keep the Lights On? - Vanity Fair