Republicans 'dreading it' with 'clock ticking' towards 'stumbling into a shutdown': report

House Republicans are becoming increasingly concerned that they will not be able to agree amongst themselves on a budget deal that will forestall a government shutdown in March.

According to a report from NOTUS, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) confessed the drop-dead date is "getting here faster than I would like," adding, "We need to get a topline. Quick.”

As Reese Gorman and Riley Rogerson of NOTUS wrote, "... with Republicans and Democrats still so far apart, that topline is looking more magical and far-fetched by the day."

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According to the report, –– with a shutdown seeming inevitable –– GOP lawmakers are feeling handcuffed because Donald Trump has been pushing "the bounds of the law with executive orders" and Democrats, whose votes are needed, "may try to reestablish the power of the purse by insisting on new riders."

Asked about going into negotiations, Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), confessed he is "dreading it."

Cole complained to NOTUS that the GOP leadership is partly to blame for the late start, explaining, "This should have been done in December, I didn’t get the authority to negotiate the topline until January. By that time, I had a new Senate, a new president of the United States on the way. So we’re doing the best we can with the cards we have and the players we have around the table.”

“I worry more about stumbling into a shutdown than someone deliberately triggering one,” Cole conceded.

You can read more of that here.