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As Congress begins its first full week in session since September, G.O.P. solidarity will face its toughest challenge to date. Republicans stayed mostly united during the government shutdown (and on most issues before that, too), rebuffing offers to negotiate with Democrats over policy and largely refraining from criticizing their leadership’s management of the situation. But that was the easy part. This week, they’ll be forced to reckon with two high-stakes issues they’ve been dodging for months: a vote on the Jeffrey Epstein saga, and perhaps even more debilitating for the party, a debate on healthcare.
