House Republicans appear to need regular reminders that their party’s control of the levers of government in Washington is limited to one legislative chamber. The leverage that tenuous control provides is constrained by political realities that are neither a secret nor particularly inscrutable. Nevertheless, having only recently reconstituted itself amid a three-week internecine squabble over nothing in particular, the House GOP seems inclined once again to attempt to do something broadly unpopular and succeed only in broadcasting its unyielding commitment to its own unpopularity in the process.
The Biden White House and the Democrats in control of the Senate knew what they were doing when they proposed a package of aid to two American partners abroad with whom the U.S. is not formally aligned, but whom it nonetheless supports in their efforts to repel invasions by hostile neighboring powers. Democrats called for coupling aid to Israel with aid to Ukraine in one package not because these issues couldn’t be broken up but because it would set Republicans against one another. And the GOP seems eager to play this game on the Democrats’ terms.
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