Senate races to avoid government shutdown with time ticking and lingering issues

When lawmakers in the upper chamber return Monday, they will have three working weeks to fund the government. That process fizzled out before they left town earlier in December, but lawmakers are hopeful that both parties can come together to ward off a repeat of September's funding deadline.

"We want to get through the process and get the appropriations bills done," Schumer said.

A similar issue played out just as the Senate was on the cusp of advancing a five-bill spending package before skipping town.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought had just announced that same day that the facility would be put under a microscope, and charged that the NCAR was "one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country."

For now, the duo appear entrenched in their position.

"This holiday season, hundreds of NCAR employees face uncertainty about their jobs and communities across the state are worried they won't get the support they need to rebuild their lives after historic flooding and wildfires," Bennett said in a statement. "Colorado deserves better, and I am doing everything in my power to fight back and protect our state from the President's vindictive chaos."

And Congressional Democrats are likely to use the healthcare issue as leverage during the impending spending fight.

Exactly how lawmakers avoid another shutdown is still in the air. The Senate is determined to advance its five bill package, which includes legislation to fund the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Commerce, Justice, Interior, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.

But in order for those bills to make it to Trump's desk, the House has to agree. So far, the lower chamber has only passed a handful of spending bills, and has not brought any appropriations bills to the floor for months.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., already is gaming out a "a contingency plan."

"We got to fund the government by the end of the month," Thune said. "And so we're looking at, you know, determining what that looks like, obviously, if we can pass the five bill package, and if we can't, then what that looks like."

"So there's a lot of thought being given and just to make sure that we don't end up in a, you know, posture at the end of the month where we're looking at, staring at a shutdown again," he continued.