If you do nothing, others will.

Republicans are stunned by Donald Trump agreeing a 3-month raise of the debt ceiling with Democrats, which will last till December 2017. Debt ceiling is the total debt that the government can incur to finance its spending, and was created by the Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917. At present the total debt of the US government is nearly $20 trillion, or $23.4 trillion if local and state debts are included. If the Congress fails to raise the ceiling it leads to a government shutdown when federal employees cannot be paid and some government services come to a halt. The bill to raise the debt ceiling was combined with $15.25 billion relief fund for victims of Hurricane Harvey, which killed 70 people and caused devastation in Texas and Louisiana. The Republicans wanted to extend the debt ceiling by 18 months which would take them beyond the midterm elections in November 2018. If the Democrats did not agree people would blame them for being unsympathetic to hurricane victims. Now that they have been freed of hurricane relief the Democrats can link debt ceiling to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, when the battle resumes in December. These are illegal immigrants who entered the US as children and have grown up there. This is the only home they know and they consider themselves as Americans. To deport them would seem cruel and cost votes. So why did Trump side with Democrats and seemingly undercut his own party? Presumably because Trump has been frustrated by the inability of Republicans to pass any of his campaign promises. such as repeal of Obamacare and tax reform, despite having majorities in both houses of Congress. Republicans have been trying to repeal Obamacare ever since it was passed but have been unsuccessful. In July a repeal bill failed in the Senate when 3 Republicans, including John McCain, voted against it. When asked how he would vote he told reporters "wait for the show". It now appears that even Trump can put on a show. A large section of the bureaucracy, labeled the 'Deep State', has been hostile to Donald Trump since his inauguration, frequently leaking classified information, such as phone conversations with foreign leaders, to embarrass him. Recently, the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, announced that 'leakers' are being "investigated and will be prosecuted". Hundreds of posts in government remain unfilled because of the Senate's inability to confirm their appointments. The Republicans have sided with Democrats in investigating Trump for colluding with Russia. No wonder that Trump has decided to become 'independent' of his party. Republicans lost to Harry Truman's label of a "Do nothing Congress". They should be wary of repeating that.