“Can’t live with them; can’t live without them” encapsulates the relationship between the PBPs and the Reactionaries. From the PBP side, Reactionary votes are necessary to win power, but Reactionary excesses damage the GOP brand and make victory in presidential elections much less likely. From the Reactionary perspective, the alliance with the PBPs wins elections, but only results in frustration afterwards.
Reactionaries in the House are already operating as a de facto third party. The question now is what actions, if any, would cause them to formalize that arrangement. I plan to discuss that in a future post.