GOP election losses could scramble year-end funding fight

A bruising midterm election for Republicans could complicate Congress’s next government funding fight, as lawmakers return to Washington facing uncertainty over how President Trump will respond to potential GOP losses.

Congress has passed a stopgap measure, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), to keep the government funded through Dec. 11. Lawmakers in both parties said they expect to pass another short-term measure if they cannot finish work on all 12 appropriations bills — and that the odds of a shutdown remain low.

But the election results could reshape the political dynamics surrounding government funding, with Trump emerging as a wild card in negotiations if Republicans must grapple with the fallout of losing their congressional majority next year.

The final weeks of the year could represent Republicans’ last opportunity to advance some of their top legislative priorities before Democrats potentially take control of the House or Senate.

“I don’t know if there’s going to be a shutdown because I have no idea how crazy Republicans are going to act and the things that they’re going to present that are just going to make working families’ lives more difficult and more unaffordable,” said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), who sits on the House Appropriations Committee and is retiring at the end of this term. “I don’t know if they’re going to give a darn one way or the other after the election.”

“I suspect that Republicans are very interested in waiting to see what happens on Election Day, and therefore, what climate are they going to operate under. And I think........

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