Senate Republicans are starting to send a message to their increasingly isolated House counterparts: It’s time to abandon the hard line or face a public backlash.
Whether it’s the top two Senate leaders’ plan to avert a debt crisis or the recently resurrected Gang of Six framework, most senators have shown interest in the kind of bipartisan compromise that provides political cover to all involved. But House Republicans leaped further to the right this week, endorsing a Cut, Cap and Balance bill that attracted just five Democratic votes. Some are clamoring for a vote on a balanced-budget amendment that’s a nonstarter in the Democratic-controlled Senate — and could prove an embarrassing failure on the House floor.