The subheadline exposes itself:

GOP rebels, fueled by social media and online fundraising, feel empowered to block their leaders from cutting deals with Democrats

Leave aside the question of whether it’s ever a good idea to try to cut deals with a Party that’s bent on destroying our nation. The lede paragraph repeats the false premise:

The small group of House Republicans bucking their party leaders and pushing the government toward a shutdown would have carried a dismissive label in past years. They would be called gadflies—annoying to colleagues, and easily swatted away.

Perhaps. However, rigid party discipline is a Parliamentary process fit for Great Britain, and it’s a Party process abused by the Progressive-Democratic Party. But American political parties are not elected monolithically. Every party member is elected by his own constituents, and every Representative and Senator is duty-bound to reflect the wishes and requirements of his constituents, not those of the party leadership. Each Congressman and Senator isn’t even obligated to go along with a majority of their House GOP colleagues, as Zitner and Wise put it in their article at the first link.

These politicians’ duty is to their constituents, and to no one else. That they carry out their duty well or poorly—poorly in the present case—is a separate matter from “empowerment to block party leaders.”