Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' House to vote on resolution affirming peaceful transition of power Republican lawyers brush off Trump's election comments MORE (R-Ky.) on Monday threw his support behind a "clean" stopgap bill to fund the government through Dec. 20, saying it could pass the chamber and get President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE's signature.

"While the House and Senate continue negotiations on setting the allocations, we need to buy more time. The House and Senate need to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 20 and allow these talks to continue," McConnell said from the Senate floor.

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House appropriators introduced a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government through Dec. 20. Lawmakers have until the end of Thursday to prevent a government shutdown, and McConnell stressed that the chamber will remain in session to pass the bill before leaving for a weeklong Thanksgiving break.

"This is what we need, a CR as clean as possible through Dec. 20. ... A clean CR to Dec. 20 would pass the Senate, and the White House has indicated President Trump would sign it," McConnell added.

The government is currently funded through Nov. 21. But negotiations around the larger fiscal 2020 bills have been at a stalemate for months because of divisions on spending for Trump's border wall and top-line spending figures.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Steven Terner MnuchinThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Republicans lawmakers rebuke Trump on election On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Vulnerable Democrats tell Pelosi COVID-19 compromise 'essential' MORE, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' Overnight Health Care: New wave of COVID-19 cases builds in US | Florida to lift all coronavirus restrictions on restaurants, bars | Trump stirs questions with 0 drug coupon plan Overnight Defense: Appeals court revives House lawsuit against military funding for border wall | Dems push for limits on transferring military gear to police | Lawmakers ask for IG probe into Pentagon's use of COVID-19 funds MORE (D-Calif.), House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey Nita Sue LoweyTop House Democrats call for watchdog probe into Pompeo's Jerusalem speech With Biden, advocates sense momentum for lifting abortion funding ban Progressives look to flex their muscle in next Congress after primary wins MORE (D-N.Y.) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby Richard Craig ShelbyThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Republicans lawmakers rebuke Trump on election Senate to push funding bill vote up against shutdown deadline Senate GOP eyes early exit MORE (R-Ala.) met late last week to discuss the fiscal 2020 bills.

Lowey and Shelby are hoping to get a deal on the top-line figures by Wednesday.

McConnell added on Monday that he wants to wrap up as much of the fiscal 2020 bills as possible by the end of the year, a goal he has privately told Senate Republicans.

Lawmakers are formally scheduled to be in session an additional two weeks after the Thanksgiving break, but they are likely to be in session at least through the third week of December given the Dec. 20 end date for the new stopgap bill.

"This is our opportunity to get a bipartisan process back on track ... and then with more cooperation, we can reach agreement on allocations and pass as many of the 12 appropriations bills as possible before the end of the year," he added.