The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion Senators take the wheel from an erratic president

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Columnist|
January 22, 2018 at 6:08 p.m. EST
Bipartisan bonhomie on the Hill: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), center, is joined by, from left, Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) after a bipartisan procedural vote aimed at reopening the government. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The head is missing, but the body is still alive.

The president killed off all attempts at compromise, then went dark after the government shut down, refusing to say what he would support on immigration or even to engage in negotiations. But in this leadership vacuum, something remarkable happened: Twenty-five senators, from both parties, rediscovered their role as lawmakers. They crafted a deal over the weekend that offers a possible path forward, and, in dramatic fashion on the Senate floor Monday, signaled the end of the shutdown with a lopsided 81-to-18 vote.