Article snippet: Senate Republicans are struggling to unite behind a plan to fund the government after budget talks have ground to a halt. Congress has until the end of September to prevent the second government closure of the year, but Republicans are struggling to overcome the first roadblock — agreeing to top-line defense and nondefense figures or deciding what comes next if they can’t. The drama over how to fund the government and avoid deep budget cuts has played out in private, closed-door meetings and put a public spotlight on the high-profile split among Republicans as well as with the White House about the best path to avoid a shutdown. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman MORE (R-Ala.) pitched his colleagues during a closed-door lunch about “deeming” top-line defense and nondefense spending levels once they return from the July Fourth recess, absent a budget deal. The move would allow Senate Republicans to approximate what they think an eventual budget deal will be and write their funding bills based off that estimate in the meantime. "It’s to keep the process seemingly going. We’ve done it before," Shelby told The Hill. "If we don’t do it, and if we don’t get a break on the higher numbers, we’re headed for a CR [continuing resolution], probably lurch from month to month, week to week." Deeming top-line defense and nondefense spending levels would let Senate appropriators use the tentative numbers to start drafting 12 appropriations bills, which they need to pa... Link to the full article to read more