Well, it’s been a stunning few weeks for budget news, in both Washington and Augusta — with sharp reversals reminiscent of Trump’s actions on tariffs.

Here in Maine, it appeared that Republicans would acquiesce to a supplemental budget, as it initially cleared the Appropriations Committee unanimously. That was disappointing, as it dropped even modest reforms that Gov. Janet Mills herself had requested. It was heartening to see that deal later collapsed.

Then, House Republicans held up passage of the supplemental budget for weeks, until finally coming to a new agreement — one that Senate Republicans, usually more inclined to compromise if anything, ended up defeating. Now, Maine Democrats appear poised to go it alone on the budget yet again.

In Washington, a similar drama played out. House Democrats mostly stood firm against the Republicans’ continuing resolution, with Rep. Jared Golden the only Democrat willing to vote for it. At first, it appeared Senate Democrats would do the same, forcing a shutdown, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer caved and voted for the continuing resolution — without getting anything in return.

In both cases, the outcome wasn’t surprising; it was the meandering way in which we got there that was. In Augusta, Republicans were right to withhold support for the supplemental budget without receiving significant concessions in return. Their mistake was in not having a clear, unified message from the very beginning, going back to the committee vote. Whether they had specific demands or just weren’t willing to support the supplemental, they could have decided on their approach much earlier. Republicans in Augusta couldn’t even agree on an approach among themselves, let alone come to an agreement with Democrats.

In Washington, if Senate Democrats were going to support the continuing resolution at the end of the day, they could have made that decision earlier. It was pretty clear when the House voted on it that Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his caucus thought Senate Democrats had their back. If he’d known Schumer was going to cave, he might not have worked so hard to hold his caucus together on a vote he knew was doomed to fail anyway. That would have allowed more of his members from competitive districts, like Golden, to vote for the continuing resolution, letting them avoid a tough vote.

In both cases, the minority party lacked a clear and comprehensive strategy. It’s hard enough to be in the minority in a legislative body when you’re disciplined. You rarely have much of a chance to get a say in anything. So, when you do, it’s important that you pick a specific strategy early on and stick to it. Then, at least, you have a chance to either wrangle a few concessions from the majority or at least look heroic to your base. In both of these budgetary battles, the lack of a strategy hampered both ends.

To the progressive base nationally, it appeared as if congressional Democrats were readying themselves for a heroic stand against President Donald Trump — only to have Chuck Schumer pull the rug out from under them at the last moment. Rather than unifying the party, that deepened the division — not only between Congress and the progressive base but between the House and Senate. After the vote, Jeffries pointedly refused to express confidence in Schumer, understandably so. It’s tempting to say that his opinion doesn’t matter since he’s in the House and Schumer is in the Senate, but they’re going to need to work together going forward, and this episode undermines that.

To the conservative base in Maine, it similarly looked as if Republicans were finally going to stand up to Gov. Mills, even if they needed some goading to do so. Then, when most House Republicans ended up going along with a new version, it looked like conservatives would be disappointed yet again — before Senate Republicans torpedoed that version. It’s clear that House and Senate Republicans weren’t on the same page, and that’s going to affect negotiations going forward — on the budget and other legislation.

They need to course-correct that, and fast. With Democrats going it alone on their bare-bones budget, Republicans in Augusta need to decide on a strategy. They ought to make it clear to Democrats that their votes won’t be available on any future budget bills this session, and be unified on that. Similarly, Democrats in D.C. need a real strategy should they ever choose to make a real stand against President Trump. Chaos is not a valid governing strategy, whether in Augusta or Washington — and especially not if you’re in the minority.