House Republican leaders are discussing a plan to pass a seven-week stopgap funding measure Friday then not bring the House back into session until after the Oct. 1 shutdown deadline, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the talks.

No final decision has been made on House scheduling, the people said, but the move would allow the House to “jam” the Senate, giving it no alternative to avoid a shutdown than to pass the GOP-written measure. Democrats there are pushing for a vote on an alternative measure that adds on the minority’s policy priorities.

The Senate, meanwhile, is on track to vote on the House-passed continuing resolution no earlier than next Thursday, with Majority Leader John Thune saying there is “not much sentiment” for allowing votes Friday on the dueling Republican and Democrat stopgaps.

House Republicans have invited a leading anti-abortion group to brief GOP staffers on the looming expiration of Obamacare subsidies, according to an invitation for the event viewed by Blue Light News.

It comes as a growing number of congressional Republicans are calling for an extension before the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at the end of the year, fearing political blowback for causing premiums to skyrocket and people to lose their health insurance.

At least some of these lawmakers are members of the conservative Republican Study Committee, which is hosting the meeting with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America — one of the most prominent organizations promoting anti-abortion candidates for elected office — and the Foundation for Government Accountability, a right-leaning think tank based in Florida.

“The briefing will provide staff with the opportunity to learn more about the Biden-era health insurance COVID credits, the costs associated with the extension of the credits, and how the credits subsidize abortion nationwide,” the invitation says.

Anti-abortion groups have been making the rounds to congressional offices in recent weeks to make the case that the enhanced credits subsidize elective abortion — in breach of long-standing restrictions enacted by Congress, under the so-called Hyde amendment, that prohibit federal funds to be used for the procedure with few exceptions.

Nearly 100 organizations wrote in a letter to members of Congressional leadership in early September that “Democrats wrote the ACA craftily to avoid the Hyde amendment” and that the enhanced tax credits reduce out-of-pocket premiums for individuals in plans that cover abortion.

Democrats counter that the ACA does comply with the Hyde amendment because it requires insurance plans to segregate out premiums for abortion services and all other coverage areas.

The argument from the anti-abortion advocates could become a major sticking point with conservatives, many of whom are already loath to extend the subsidies on grounds they are too expensive, wasteful and subject to fraud.

Democrats are flirting with a shutdown. Their endgame is unclear.

Democrats are rallying around a hard-line approach to try to bring Republicans to the table to strike a government funding deal but don’t have a clear view of what victory looks like. For now, it’s primarily about showing some fight.

“We may not have the luxury of a victory scenario,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said. “I think what we’re trying to do is avoid things getting worse. I don’t think victory is in anyone’s hopes and dreams in this moment.”

Democrats on Wednesday night released their own vision of a stopgap funding bill that would extend health care subsidies and undo Medicaid cuts. It’s an attempt at a rallying cry for a party that’s not quite moving in lockstep on a shutdown strategy.

“The Schumer Shutdown Plan reads like a draft of the platform for the 2028 Democrat National Convention,” Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso will say during a floor speech Thursday.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has already vowed to support the GOP’s funding patch, and several other Democratic senators have yet to commit to opposing it. Frontline House Democrats including Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) and Jared Golden (Maine) have also been cagey in recent days about whether they’ll oppose the Republican CR.

Democrats will privately huddle in their respective chambers Thursday to discuss strategy.

Speaker Mike Johnson is working to shore up his own ranks as he eyes a Friday morning vote on the GOP CR.

Several Republicans are fighting to increase the bill’s allocation of $30 million for additional member security, among them Reps. Tim Burchett (Tenn.) and Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.). Republicans can lose only two votes at full attendance without Democratic support. GOP Reps. Victoria Spartz (Ind.), Warren Davidson (Ohio) and Thomas Massie (Ky.) have threatened to oppose it.

What else we’re watching:   

— Senate GOP to flex new rules for nominees: The Senate is set to confirm 48 nominees Thursday with a single vote, after Republicans changed the chamber’s rules to allow batch confirmations of most executive nominees and district court judges. The group includes picks from the Energy and Defense Departments. It also includes Kimberly Guilfoyle, who’s nominated to be ambassador to Greece, and Callista Gingrich, who’s nominated to be ambassador to Switzerland.

— D.C. officials to testify on Blue Light News: The District of Columbia’s top elected officials are set to appear before Congress on Thursday for the first time since Trump temporarily assumed control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployed the National Guard throughout the capital city. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Council Chair Phil Mendelson and Attorney General Brian Schwalb will face tough questioning from Republicans on their handling of crime in the District, even as it reported a 30-year low in violent crime last year.

Nicholas Wu, Jordain Carney and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.