GOP senators dread pre-election shutdown fight

Senate Republicans are anxious to avoid giving Democrats another opening to force a government shutdown weeks before the midterm elections.

Why it matters: The appropriations process is a slog, Sen. Mitch McConnell's absence adds a complication, and election season raises the stakes. Add to that the Senate is haunted by three shutdowns in the past year.

The annual, nuts-and-bolts funding process used to be more bipartisan, but it has become increasingly politicized.

It's only July, and senators are already talking about kicking the can down the road.

What we're hearing: During multiple closed-door lunches before the Fourth of July break, senators raised fears about Democrats forcing another shutdown fight, multiple sources familiar with the discussions tell us.

In the meetings, Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has stressed the need to ensure the Senate is not trapped in another funding emergency right before the election.

Some senators are pushing for a short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, to get them through the midterms.

Zoom in: Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) still wants to stick with the normal funding process to avoid a CR.

But Collins has been vocal about her frustration with Democrats' unwillingness to vote for the funding bills in committee.

Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray's (D-Wash.) "threat to vote against all of the appropriations bills, including those Democrats have helped draft, is contrary to the way I always operated with her when our roles were reversed," Collins told reporters last month.

Democrats, meanwhile, have blamed the Trump administration's hefty budget requests, including $1.5 trillion for defense spending. They accuse Republicans of being unwilling to negotiate on the top-line defense and non-defense spending.

"We made it clear to the Republicans that we are not going to accept a gigantic war budget offer, that they have to be reasonable," Murray told reporters last month.

The Trump administration also asked Congress last month for $87.6 billion in supplemental funding, most of it to cover costs related to the Iran war.

The intrigue: McConnell's (R-Ky.) medical absence from the Senate could make the hard job of fully funding government agencies even harder.

The Appropriations Committee already had to delay markups of spending bills in part due to McConnell's hospitalization.

There is only a one-seat margin on the Appropriations panel, and Republicans worry they can't count on Democratic votes as they have in the past.

McConnell also chairs the subcommittee for defense appropriations, putting him in charge of one of the most pivotal spending bills and playing a key role in the requested supplemental package for Iran.

The details: The deadline to fund the government next fiscal year is Sept. 30, about a month before the midterm elections.

The Senate is scheduled to be in recess all of October, to allow those up for reelection to focus on campaigning in their states.

All that could be derailed if the government does not get funded.

Catch up quick: Last October, the government began a 10-plus-week shutdown as Democrats demanded an extension to expiring Obamacare tax credits.

At the start of the year, there was another brief shutdown because of disputes over Homeland Security funding after fatal ICE shootings.

DHS was then left unfunded for months. Now the department has been funded through the rest of President Trump's term. If a shutdown occurs in the fall, DHS would not be affected.