Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will likely face plenty of his own internal opposition as he tries to chart a path forward. In particular, linking help for Ukraine with Israel funding is almost certain to split GOP senators.
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“The House is frankly usually pretty independent and wants to do their own thing. But if they don’t have a thing to do, then that creates a situation where the Senate passes something — and then they’ll have no choice but to take it or leave it,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a top McConnell deputy. “Colloquially known as ‘being jammed’.”

The Senate also has its own problems: A stalled spending measure that they’d wanted to tackle with bipartisan buy-in, the indictment of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and an unprecedented backlog of military promotions. But the upper chamber looks positively well-oiled compared to the leaderless House.

Senate Republicans are well aware that being publicly at odds with House Republicans risks exacerbating gridlock and sparking ire on both sides of the Capitol.

Yet the alternative of doing nothing seems out of the question.

“I don’t think that we can afford to sit and wait here,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said. “I appreciate that. And, you know, my view is that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and the sooner the better.”

House Republicans could assert themselves on another front in the Senate’s dealmaking on appropriations — by conducting informal talks. Yet Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), a former appropriations chair who still wields power on the spending panel, said the all-consuming chaos is preventing the usual House-Senate backchanneling among top lawmakers.

“With this turmoil going on, it’s hard to get time that’s not already taken. So it’s just been extremely difficult to get together,” Rogers said.

One thing that’s reassuring some House Republicans: The Senate hasn’t started on one critical item on Congress’ to-do list — the Israel aid package. The White House is expected to submit its formal request this week, which means the Senate could take it up as soon, piling new pressure on to the dysfunctional House.

For the moment, though, the Senate hasn’t even managed to pass a nonbinding resolution supporting Israel.

Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol Oct. 18, 2023.