In a letter sent by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), all 42 GOP members of the GOP caucus asserted:  "While there are other items that might ultimately be worthy of the Senate's attention, we cannot agree to prioritize any matters above the critical issues of funding the government and preventing a job-killing tax hike."

If a compromise is not reached, the action is expected to affect Democrats' ability to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and pass the DREAM Act.  Reid and his allies had hoped to do both during the lame-duck session.

UPI reports: "Reid denounced the letter on the Senate floor Wednesday morning as part of a 'cynical' and 'transparent' strategy to 'obstruct' and 'delay' legislation while blaming the Democrats for failing to govern effectively."

Greg Sargent at the Washington Post reports that the Democrats may still be able to pull off the DADT repeal:

"In this case, Dems have a powerful weapon with which to ratchet up pressure on individual Republicans: Robert Gates. At his presser yesterday, he implored Congress to repeal DADT, arguing that the courts were already on their way to doing this and that he'd be able to implement repeal far more smoothly. Dems can press this point, calling on moderate GOP Senators to do what the Defense Secretary has asked them to do for the good of the military."

Sargent wrote that the GOP strategy is less than sound:  "This wouldn't be the first time a tactic like this from McConnell has failed to maintain GOP unity, despite his threats to the contrary. On Wall Street reform, Dems were able to break the GOP filibuster despite McConnell's bluff."

Jennifer Rubin, a new conservative blogger for the Post, applauded McConnell's move:  

"Liberals scream 'obstruction!,' but think about it. The government runs out of money in two days and a huge tax hike looms over the economy. But what are the Dems doing? 'Don't ask, don't tell,' a settlement with black farmers and the DREAM Act. In other words, they are throwing the final crumbs to key Democratic special interest groups while the rest of the country's business takes a back seat." 

McConnell said his party is entirely justified in gumming up Democrats' plans after gaining so many Congressional seats in the midterm elections: 

"It's unclear how long our friends across the aisle will continue to resist the message of the election and cling to the liberal wish list," McConnell, said. "With just a few weeks left before the end of the year, they're still clinging to the wrong priorities."

What is clear: there will be none of Obama's precious bipartisanship for Christmas this year.

Reach Kevin Grant here.

To follow him on Twitter.

Sign up for Neon Tommy's weekly e-mail newsletter.