We now know that Congress can pass a spending bill to fund government for the rest of the fiscal year without a single vote from a tea party Republican. The only question is whether the House Republican leadership has the courage to move forward without their teahadist backbenchers.
I'm referring to yesterday's vote on a stop-gap funding measure to keep government open for another three weeks. As you can see below, that vote could not have passed without Democratic support:
Ayes: 271 (186 Rs, 85 Ds)
Noes: 158 (54 Rs, 104 Ds)
You need 218 votes to pass a bill in the House; Republicans only delivered 186 of those votes. They needed 32 Democrats to get a majority. They got 85. Meanwhile, 54 extreme-right Republicans were left fuming on the sidelines.
Don't get me wrong—this wasn't a truly bipartisan piece of legislation in terms of substance. Most of the Democrats who voted for the stop-gap bill think the level of its cuts are too severe. But compared with the prospect of a government shutdown, they were willing to step up to the plate to keep negotiations going. The same cannot be said for the tea party Republicans who aren't willing to compromise on anything. They'd rather sit around and pout and scream and whine than actually get something done.
Ultimately, whatever spending bill gets passed by Congress and signed by President Obama is going to represent a compromise. That's what happens in divided government. But while a sizable minority of the House GOP caucus appears to be blissfully unaware of that fact, yesterday's vote provides a hint that perhaps the House GOP leadership, despite its rhetoric, might just be able to figure out that the only path forward is to work with their Democratic colleagues in the House to pass a bipartisan spending bill. Yesterday's vote total proves it is possible. The vote proves that enough Democrats will work with Republicans to pass a spending bill, with or without the tea party contingent. And given the realities of divided government, it's the only way Republicans can avoid forcing a government shutdown. The question is: Do they have the true grit to do it?