House Republican leaders are discussing a plan to pass a seven-week stopgap funding measure Friday then not bring the House back into session until after the Oct. 1 shutdown deadline, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the talks.
No final decision has been made on House scheduling, but “that is the plan so far,” one of the Republicans said. The move would allow the House to “jam” the Senate, giving it no alternative to avoid a shutdown than to pass the GOP-led measure. Democrats there are pushing for a vote on an alternative measure that adds on the minority’s policy priorities.
The Senate, meanwhile, is on track to vote on the House-passed continuing resolution no earlier than next Thursday, with Majority Leader John Thune saying there is “not much sentiment” for allowing votes Friday on the dueling Republican and Democrat stopgaps.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had floated voting on both bills, which would take buy-in from every senator, saying that senators “should take up the issue immediately” after the stopgap bill passes the House. But GOP senators see little political incentive for cutting that agreement, believing Democrats would use it to hammer them for voting against the health care proposals in the Democratic alternative.
“There’s no reason in the world for us to give them a vote,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
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