Normally, when you choose a drastic option, you wonder how your opponent will respond. In this case, I don’t think the Democrats have anything to worry about, because the Republicans have ALREADY gone nuclear. How else would you describe almost breaching the debt ceiling? Even now, it’s possible that there may be another government shutdown / debt ceiling dance in January and February.

So this is one case when the Democrats can “escalate” without fear of “reprisal”. The Republicans are ALREADY reprising as much as they can!