Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other party leaders are seeking to make as few political errors as possible before November. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Elections Republicans boot their headaches until after midterms But if the House or Senate flip, Washington won't be focused on the GOP agenda.

Congressional Republicans have found a solution to all their internal problems that plague their party: Delay them until after the midterms.

As the GOP fights to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are seeking to make as few political errors as possible before November. But they are setting up a lame duck that will be characterized by a race to replace Ryan, a government shutdown fight and brutal divisions on several long-shot pieces of legislation that will quickly morph into a nightmare for the party no matter the results of the elections.


“I don’t think there’s any question that Mitch has planned on a fall that’s very orderly and has laid out those things that are accomplishable. And wisely, might I add,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who has one last lame duck to get through before retirement. “Could there be some highly contentious issues that come up after the election? Yes.”

The list of delayed battles is as lengthy as it is divisive: A fight over President Donald Trump’s border wall, a pitched GOP leadership race in the House, the potential confirmation of a new attorney general to replace Jeff Sessions, consideration of a criminal justice reform bill which cleaves Republicans and Senate antipathy for voting on more tax cuts preferred by House Republicans.

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And if the House or Senate flips to Democratic control in November, Washington will all of a sudden become fixated on the new party control and not finishing the GOP’s business.

“People always overestimate what can be achieved in the lame duck. They can’t. It physically, politically can’t be done,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “People start anticipating the new majorities and there’s limited amount of time with holidays. There just aren’t many opportunities.”

Even kicking all of their business until after the election is taking some effort: The president is criticizing the GOP’s plan to delay the border fight until after the election. And a sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh is threatening to suck up all the oxygen from what the GOP views as a list of modest but important accomplishments including new efforts to pass spending bills, tax reform and confirmation of dozens of lifetime judges.

Coloring every policy discussion will be the House leadership jockeying to replace Ryan. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will face a challenge from conservative firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in whatever post he’s seeking, whether it’s speaker in the majority or GOP leader in the minority. Between Jordan and Steve Scalise (R-La.), the majority whip waiting in the wings to run if McCarthy stumbles, McCarthy will face pressure from conservatives to veer right on virtually all policy matters.

House Democratic drama will also flare post-election. If Democrats fail to take the House, Democrats will likely have a full-fledged meltdown, driving House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) out of town and opening up a power vacuum at the top. Even if they do take the House, Pelosi faces an arduous task of twisting the arms of independent-minded incoming freshmen who have vowed to vote against her.

And Republicans are falling short on several areas they’d hoped to clinch before heading before voters, who are threatening to deprive the House GOP of its majority. Talks between farm bill negotiators once again broke down over House Republicans’ demand to incorporate work requirements for low-income food assistance recipients as well as overall spending levels.

GOP lawmakers have been pointing to the farm bill as the solution to pain in the heartland from Trump's tariffs, but they may get little other than a short-term extension.

“Some of it’s not just intentionally being delayed until after the elections, some of it’s just playing out that way. The farm bill has hit a major snag in conference, right?” said Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). “I’m going to vote no, but I think the supporters would very much like to get it done before the election.”

Then, there’s the never-ending spat over criminal justice reform, an issue that has had divided Republicans chasing their tails for more than two years. In May, a rare bipartisan coalition in the House passed legislation aimed at reducing recidivism rates of prisoners, pouring $50 million into job training and education programs to help rehabilitate those behind bars.

But Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Durbin want to broaden the package and reduce mandatory-minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders — an idea some tough-on-crime Republicans hate and that has received resistance from the White House.

“People need to remember that the White House wants to see prison reform done this year,” said Rep. Doug Collins, the Georgia Republican who co-authored the House package with Democrat Hakeem Jeffries of New York. “I’d hate to see a few misguided voices maim the best chance we’ve had at meaningful reform.”

But Durbin says he’s been told by Republicans that McConnell wants 65 votes in the bag before bringing it to the floor, which could prove impossible.

Equally difficult: Replacing Sessions if Trump ousts him. Some Republicans may vote against a replacement if Trump fires Sessions, and a brutal confirmation fight linked to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation would likely ensue.

The Senate GOP hates to see Trump attack his attorney general, but it has tried to find a silver lining.

Sessions “probably wants to go as much as the president seems to want him to go. But I appreciate him waiting,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). “I don’t think we ought to have those kind of disruptions before the midterm elections.”

House Republicans are hopeful that the Senate GOP will pass legislation making permanent tax cuts for individuals after the election. It can’t pass the Senate right now, and McConnell is wary of allowing vulnerable Senate Democrats to vote for it before the election.

He might allow a vote on it after the election, according to Republican senators. But the House is going to be mightily disappointed: It appears headed toward failure.

“I would definitely oppose making the individual cuts permanent,“ Corker said. “I can’t even imagine Mitch bringing it up. I guess after the election maybe he thinks there’s no harm in bringing it up, but I just can’t imagine it passing.”