GOP rift grows as Thune hits brakes on Trump's election bill to avert shutdown

The wheels are in motion for Republicans to take another swing at President Donald Trump’s top election priority, but in the Senate, the main focus is keeping the government open.

House Republicans advanced their framework for another party-line budget reconciliation package that, among other funding priorities, includes a rough sketch to find a way to pass part of the SAVE America Act in the Senate.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is prioritizing another issue: preventing Senate Democrats from getting the opportunity to shut down the government ahead of the midterm elections in the fall.

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Thune plans to hold the House’s budget framework until the Senate can move a funding extension, known as a continuing resolution. Doing so, however, delays reconciliation, and in turn, trying to pass the SAVE America Act.

Negotiations on a continuing resolution between Republicans and Democrats are already underway in the Senate, but some in the GOP worry that Thune’s maneuver opens the door for betrayal.

"I support (Thune), I like him. I don't agree with him on this," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., an appropriator, told Fox News Digital. "I've seen this vampire movie before. He wants to negotiate with the Democrats. I respect that, but right now, if you turn the other cheek to Chuck (Schumer), he’s just gonna stab me in the neck."

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital she understood Kennedy’s position, but that Republicans needed to strike on funding the government while the opportunity was there.

"I believe that, particularly in the last year, we've seen Democrats getting more and more comfortable with not doing their job and finding a pathway forward," Britt said. "I do think we all have a duty and an obligation to try to find one here."

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Kennedy also is unhappy with the slowdown in passing the SAVE America Act, a sentiment shared by his colleagues in the House.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., contended that the Senate could, and should, do both at the same time.

"Well, we all should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time," Scalise told Fox News Digital before the vote Tuesday. "In fact, this week, we're doing both. We're passing the reconciliation bill that will move SAVE America, and we're passing a continuing resolution to fund the government at current levels."

The House did pass a continuing resolution earlier in the week, but the Senate is working on a plan that could score Democratic votes, which, given the 60-vote filibuster threshold, is a necessity in the upper chamber.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital he was largely open to whatever could help Republicans avoid a shutdown ahead of the all-important midterm elections.

"Obviously, we would consider anything they had," Cole said. "A lot depends on what's in it and whether or not, if we'd lost Republicans, are they going to replace them over here with Democrats? But no, I think the more talking about getting this done, the better off we are, the less chance of a shutdown."

Thune also floated attaching the continuing resolution to the reconciliation bill sent over by the House as a means of bypassing the 60-vote threshold, which Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., called "problematic" because they are two separate aspects of government funding that are not traditionally paired.

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"I would suggest that Leader Thune do exactly what the House is doing," Clyde said. "Putting a continuing resolution on the budget reconciliation is problematic because you've got mandatory and discretionary funding mixed, literally for the entire Congress."

But the SAVE America Act may not even survive the strict rules that allow Republicans to use reconciliation. It also might not have the 50 votes needed to pass, either.

Thune, when asked about the criticism of his plan and the concerns holding up the SAVE America Act, told Fox News Digital, "as I've said before, we gotta get to 50."

"And I can't count to 50 right now on a budget resolution," Thune said. "But we'll see. I mean, we'll have those conversations at the conference. The priority is funding the government. And, so, to me, that's the thing we've got to keep our eyes on."

Republicans across the chambers agree on the latter point to find a way to keep the lights on and prevent yet another government shutdown.

But still, those not completely bought into Thune’s plan think that both issues can be completed.

"We need to do government funding, he’s right on that," Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. "We should also make sure our elections are secure, we should support the military, and so I think the reconciliation bill should move forward as well. But you know what, the Senate’s the Senate, they’ll do what they want to do."