Senate Republicans are trying to keep their ObamaCare repeal bill alive this week after a surprise setback is casting doubt on a timeline for the legislation.

Russia sanctions

Lawmakers are trying to reach agreement on bipartisan legislation to impose new sanctions on Russia and establish congressional oversight of the Trump administration’s implementation.

The bill also slaps sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile development, and lawmakers are now considering whether to include North Korea in the mix.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called for adding North Korea sanctions into the bill after its intercontinental ballistic missile launch in early July.

The House overwhelmingly passed legislation in May to establish harsher North Korea sanctions in a 419-1 vote.

“I believe Iran, the work that Russia has done, and what North Korea has done, it would be a very strong statement for all of America to get that sanction bill completed and done and to the president’s desk,” McCarthy said on the House floor.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker Robert (Bob) Phillips CorkerHas Congress captured Russia policy? Tennessee primary battle turns nasty for Republicans Cheney clashes with Trump MORE (R-Tenn.) said he has discussed the idea with his House counterpart, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), and appeared open to it.

“There is no question that we need to apply more pressure to North Korea," Corker said in an email.

The bill originally passed in the Senate by a 98-2 vote. But it stalled after lawmakers said it violated the constitutional requirement that all revenue-raising measures originate in the House.

Senators then approved changes by unanimous consent to address the issue. But yet another procedural sticking point emerged over the last several days after House Democrats objected to a provision that they say weakens their oversight over the Trump administration.

House GOP leadership had requested the language, which allows only the majority party to force votes to block the Trump administration from lifting the sanctions.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested Friday that she was willing to let the issue go in order to move the bill forward.

“I want to protect the prerogatives of the minority in the House, but weighing the equities, what was more important was passing the Russian-Iran sanctions bill. So we are on board to just proceed,” Pelosi said.

Budget

House Republicans are weighing whether to move a trillion-dollar spending package to keep the federal government funded in the next two weeks before the August recess.

The House GOP whip team is expected to survey members on Monday to gauge support after announcing the move at a party conference meeting on Friday.

The House Appropriations Committee is expected to finish approving all 12 of its annual spending bills for 2018 by the end of the week. In addition, the House Budget Committee is expected to unveil a 2018 budget resolution after weeks of delays.

Conservatives have been pushing for more spending cuts, but have met resistance from centrists who think the idea has no real shot at passing in the Senate. Whatever Congress has to pass to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September will need support from Senate Democrats, who can filibuster spending bills they don’t like.

Republicans are hoping that moving a spending package would at least establish a marker ahead of negotiations to avoid a shutdown when Congress returns from the August break.

Adopting a budget doesn’t just have consequences for keeping the government funded. The GOP will need to get a 2018 budget rolling in order to use the procedural route for tax reform that won’t require votes from Democrats.

Congress is far behind in the annual budget and appropriations process this year. The House has typically passed multiple spending bills on the floor by this point in the summer, but so far not a single one for 2018 has made it for a vote.

In the meantime, the House is expected to consider multiple energy infrastructure measures this week to create a uniform process for constructing electric transmission facilities and cross-border pipelines, establish state and federal agency coordination for approving natural gas pipeline projects and set up how states can implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s ozone standards.

Nominations

Senators will take up President Trump’s pick to fill the No. 2 spot at the Defense Department this week before turning to healthcare.

The Senate will have a procedural vote on Patrick Shanahan’s nomination to be deputy secretary on Monday evening, setting up a final vote for Tuesday night or Wednesday morning if Democrats drag out debate time.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) both tried to clear Shanahan’s nomination on Friday and then set up a final vote on Shanahan’s nomination in the evening, but was blocked both times by Schumer.

The New York Democrat argued Republicans shouldn’t expect cooperation when they are trying to pass ObamaCare repeal without hearings and along party lines.

“Given the frustration he remarked on that our side has on healthcare … I would say to the gentleman that we would be happy to consider the nominee in the regular order. And maybe once things change a little bit on healthcare ... we can move a lot of things quickly,” he said.

Bob Work — Shanahan’s predecessor, if he’s confirmed — had his last day in the No. 2 spot on Friday.