Overview
- Senate Republicans are racing to avoid another shutdown before the midterms and are divided between leaders backing a short-term continuing resolution and Appropriations Chair Susan Collins who wants to finish regular spending bills.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune has urged steps to prevent a last-minute funding emergency so Republicans do not hand Democrats a political opening before November.
- Senate work on spending bills has been slowed by Mitch McConnell’s medical absence, which delayed Appropriations Committee markups and tightened a committee arithmetic that already has a one-seat GOP margin.
- Democrats have publicly rejected large topline defense requests, including a cited $1.5 trillion figure, and oppose the White House’s recent $87.6 billion supplemental largely tied to costs for the Iran war.
- The compressed calendar — a Sept. 30 deadline and an October Senate recess — raises the practical risk of a fall standoff that could disrupt agencies and alter how senators campaign in October while coverage to date relies chiefly on Axios reporting echoed by other outlets.