One more shutdown would be an appropriate end to both the Republican majority in the House, since 2010, and the period of unified Republican control of Congress, since 2014. Both periods have been exercises in tumult, largely the creation of renegade House conservatives and leadership unable or unwilling to bring them in line. There was a major skirmish over the debt ceiling in 2011, even though increasing the federal borrowing limit had no effect on government spending. Two years later, there was a 10-month stand-off in which the GOP-dominated House once again refused to raise the debt ceiling, culminating in a two-week shutdown in October.
By fall 2015, then-Speaker John Boehner had had enough, including a failed coup in July of that year, and decided to retire. That left Ryan as the reluctant speaker. Though he had stronger conservative bona fides, he proved little more able to wrangle his raucous caucus than Boehner had been. Hardline conservatives in the House refused to go along with Ryan’s agenda, depriving him of votes even when they couldn’t pass their own ideas. There was a fitful attempt to unseat Ryan, too.
Even after Trump became president, with unified GOP control of the Senate, House, and White House, the Republican legislative agenda remained largely frozen.
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