Republican Senator Ted Cruz implemented a filibuster on the Democratic proposal for raising the debt ceiling, by acknowledging that the Senate would have to achieve 60 votes in favor of the bill. In a huge upset, many prominent GOP leaders, including minority leader Mitch McConnell and John McCain, came forward to overcome this target number of votes. What has sparked this sudden act of bipartisanship from the GOP? Perhaps it is that the government shutdown last October caused some of the members of our government to realize how frivolous and unnecessary some of their arguments have been. That isn’t to say that the Democratic Party hasn’t been equally participatory in the lack of bipartisanship in our government. Indeed, many have been resistant to cooperation in the same way that members of the Republican Party have been.

However, this division of the Grand Old Party shows that Republicans are not as impervious to compromise as they have been portrayed. McConnell explained his reasoning for his actions in an interview saying that this was a case where he “had to do what was best for the country.” McCain actually took people aside to try to convince them that this was the right move. Understandably, many members of the Senate did not wish to compromise their delicate political positions by voting to raise the amount of money America is allowed to borrow. Fortunately, 12 members of the GOP were willing to risk their political authority in favor of averting another crippling government shutdown.

Of course, many members of the Senate have expressed their dissatisfaction with this move by Cruz, citing him as being selfish in his actions. And given that the GOP has presented a united front against negotiation over the last few years, this open disagreement provides a view of a party that is looking to divorce itself from the radicalism that has plagued it in the public eye. In fact, in a time where we have become veritably habituated to party contention and extreme Tea Party propaganda, this sense of mixing party boundaries leaves us almost reeling. This is the novel stimulus that will inevitably generate increased irritation when another important vote comes around, but it nevertheless gives me hope that there might be a better, more bipartisan future on the horizon. After all, many of the difficulties facing our country stem from the fact that in recent years, our government has been fighting against itself. This recent vote shows us that it is possible for the GOP to compromise—especially when the needs are pressing.