Republican tea party forces and the International Monetary Fund collided in the final bargaining over the omnibus spending bill this past week. Neither won — but the standoff speaks volumes about American politics.
Republican business allies like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a long line of Republican Treasury secretaries going back to Ronald Reagan joined the White House in supporting the IMF funding.
But in the course of House-Senate negotiations, the IMF became paired with an amendment shaped by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who wanted to block Treasury from implementing new IRS rules to curb political activity by tax-exempt groups.