Senators say they are making headway in talks on a bipartisan bill funding the government through the election, even as rank-and-file Republicans doubt that Democratic leaders will go for it.
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said that text of the stopgap funding bill could be released this week, and that she’s been working with Democrats on it. Her Democratic counterpart, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, said “we’re working on it.”
They are also working on provisions addressing the Trump administration’s disclosure that it based some grant cancellations on political criteria last year, according to people familiar with the talks — a move Collins supports and Democrats are seeking.
Several Republican senators say they don’t envision Democrats voting for a clean spending bill so far before the Sept. 30 deadline, but Majority Leader John Thune says taking a shutdown off the table is his top priority.