Members of Congress break for August with no clear path to avoiding a shutdown this fall

abcnews.go.com:

Lawmakers broke for their August recess this week with many worried about whether they can avoid a partial government shutdown upon their return

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers broke for their August recess this week with work on funding the government largely incomplete, fueling worries about whether Congress will be able to avoid a partial government shutdown this fall.

Congress has until Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year, to act on government funding. They could pass spending bills to fund government agencies into next year, or simply pass a stopgap measure that keeps agencies running until they strike a longer-term agreement. No matter which route they take, it won't be easy.

“We're going to scare the hell out of the American people before we get this done," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

Coons' assessment is widely shared in Congress, reflecting the gulf between the Republican-led House and the Democratic-led Senate, which are charting vastly different — and mostly incompatible — paths on spending.

The Senate is adhering mostly to the top-line spending levels that President Joe Biden negotiated with House Republicans in late May as part of the debt-ceiling deal that extended the government's borrowing authority and avoided an economically devastating default.

That agreement holds discretionary spending generally flat for the coming year while allowing increases for military and veterans accounts. On top of that, the Senate is looking to add $13.7 billion in additional emergency appropriations, including $8 billion for defense and $5.7 billion for nondefense.

House Republicans, many of whom opposed the debt-ceiling deal and refused to vote for it, are going a different way.

GOP leaders have teed up bills with far less