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,” Axios reports.

“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.”