It was a classic McConnell gambit to find a way to allow the debt ceiling to be raised while simultaneously allowing all Republicans to vote against it.

But most Republicans in the Senate and virtually all of them in the House, fearing primaries from the right and harsh condemnation from Mar-a-Lago, wanted nothing to do with the legislative sleight of hand. They denounced any move to allow the debt ceiling to be raised as complicity with Democrats’ multitrillion-dollar economic agenda — even though the increase is needed mainly to cover spending on existing programs, some of which Republicans supported…

Complicating matters is the fact that some of the seasoned Republicans who helped Mr. McConnell in this case — Senators Roy Blunt of Missouri, Rob Portman of Ohio and Richard Burr of North Carolina — are leaving Congress at the end of next year, shrinking the ranks of those willing to risk political blowback in the interest of keeping the government from falling into chaos.