Congress is moving head-first toward a government shutdown after the Senate voted down a pair of stopgap spending bills, including a “clean” one proposed by the GOP to keep the lights on for seven weeks while appropriators hammer out a longer-term deal.

Lawmakers will be out of town for the next week before returning on the eve of the deadline, raising questions about whether there’s any chance they can avoid a shutdown when they return.

Here are five things to watch in the coming days as the shutdown deadline looms for lawmakers.

How long will Democrats hold out?

Democrats have made it abundantly clear they have zero interest in backing the GOP’s “clean” stopgap bill without alterations on a number of fronts — almost all of which Republicans have said are nonstarters.

The question is whether they’ll hold the line.

Democrats are demanding that deal at least included talks on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of December.

In March, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) shocked his party by backing the GOP-led spending bill.

But he came under enormous criticism, and he’s shown few signs of caving this time.

Schumer said the situation is “much different now” than it was in March and cited a trio of reasons: the rising unpopularity of the GOP’s tax and spending bill, unity among Democrats and actions by the Trump administration on rescissions.

Still, Democrats are taking a risk in blocking the GOP’s funding bill, which has majority support in the House and Senate. There’s a decent chance in this shutdown that........

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