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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Senate GOP plans ritzy Georgia fundraiser amid shutdown, Democrats mum | |
about Napa plans | |
By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju, CNN | |
Updated: | |
3:36 PM EDT, Thu October 2, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Senate Republicans and top GOP donors still plan to attend a major | |
fundraiser at a coastal resort in Georgia this weekend despite the , a | |
move that puts an awkward spotlight on the underbelly of political | |
campaigns as across the country. | |
With Congress at a stalemate over funding the government, lawmakers | |
recognize the uncomfortable optics of rubbing elbows with well-heeled | |
donors eager to get access to the nation’s key decision makers. | |
But some GOP and Democratic events are on — for now. | |
The National Republican Senatorial Committee informed attendees in an | |
email this week that the event in Sea Island, Georgia, was | |
non-refundable and contracted years in advance — long before the | |
current organization’s leadership, according to two people familiar | |
with the matter. | |
“Both our cost and attendees’ rooms are nonrefundable,” the email | |
read, according to one of those people. | |
The event at the luxury Sea Island resort is one of the Senate GOP’s | |
biggest fundraisers of the year. The event begins with a dinner Friday | |
evening and includes a Saturday afternoon of “golf, pickleball, | |
fishing and shooting,” before concluding Sunday morning, according to | |
an itinerary obtained by CNN. It costs at least $15,000 to attend. | |
Senate Republicans aren’t the only ones with a major fundraiser that | |
is colliding with the shutdown. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign | |
Committee is slated to hold a major fundraiser in Napa, California, | |
later this month, starting on October 13. One of the featured | |
attendees, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, has already informed | |
organizers that she won’t be attending if there is a shutdown, | |
according to a person familiar with the planning. | |
A spokesperson for the Senate Democratic group said they did not have | |
information about whether the event was still on. | |
The Senate plans to leave Washington on Friday, after taking a fourth | |
vote on the GOP’s plan to fund the government at current levels | |
through late November. Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked that | |
plan because it does not include their separate demands to renew | |
enhanced Obamacare subsidies that will expire at year’s end — and | |
they’re expected to filibuster the GOP plan again on Friday. | |
Thune told reporters Thursday that it is “unlikely” the Senate will | |
vote on Saturday. He said Democrats would have a fourth chance to vote | |
on the funding bill on Friday and then: “If that fails, then they can | |
have the weekend to think about it, we’ll come back, we’ll vote | |
again on Monday.” | |
Asked about this weekend’s event, the National Republican Senatorial | |
Committee instead slammed Senate Democrats, including Sen. Jon Ossoff, | |
the party’s most vulnerable incumbent who is running for a second | |
term in Georgia next year. | |
“Friday will be yet another opportunity for Democrats to join | |
Republicans to do the right thing and reopen the government,” NRSC | |
spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement to CNN when asked | |
about the fundraiser. Politico first reported the details of the | |
fundraisers. | |
House GOP leaders, however, encouraged their Senate counterparts to | |
remain in Washington to vote. Asked by reporters Thursday whether the | |
Senate should stay in town this weekend, Speaker Mike Johnson | |
responded: “Of course they do.” | |
The House has been on recess this week but will reconvene on Tuesday. | |
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