


Members of Congress aren’t letting the government shutdown get in the way of schmoozing with donors at an oceanside resort and in wine country, despite the unflattering optics.
Senate Republicans’ campaign arm has a weekend fundraiser at the five-star Sea Island Resort in Georgia, while Senate Democrats’ campaign arm has yet to cancel an upcoming fundraiser of their own in Napa Valley, California.
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The GOP-led chamber departed Friday for the weekend after senators rejected dueling proposals to reopen the government for the fourth time, all but ensuring the shutdown will extend into a second week. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is using the shutdown to further reshape the federal workforce with mass layoffs and canceling funding for blue-state projects.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told the Washington Examiner Friday that the campaign arm’s Napa event scheduled for Oct. 13-14 was still planned but suggested that could change if the shutdown drags on.
“Right now, we’re focused on getting healthcare restored to millions of people, and I’ll make a decision on that later,” Gillibrand said, referencing demands from Democrats to extend expiring COVID-era Obamacare subsidies in order to reopen the government.
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), who’s listed on the event invite as a host, denied she was a host and said she would not participate. The invite lays out a two-day “Napa Retreat” with “Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, DSCC Chair, Senator Angela Alsobrooks, and Members of the Democratic Caucus” at Hotel Yountville that includes a wine tour and dinner.
“I’m not hosting anything,” Alsobrooks told the Washington Examiner. “When we have a shutdown, we’re not going to be in Napa Valley.”
Other top senators, including DSCC Vice Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and leadership member Chris Murphy (D-CT), did not comment. Murphy said he was aware of the retreat, and Schiff declined to discuss it, leaving a closed-door caucus meeting about the shutdown.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) also has yet to cancel a planned fundraiser for next weekend at the Ritz-Carlton in Puerto Rico, according to Axios.
The shutdown means an estimated 750,000 federal workers are furloughed, and essential workers and military members are working without paychecks.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee couched its Sea Island fundraiser as all the more necessary amid a shutdown the party blames on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for using filibuster leverage to block a “clean” government funding measure.

“Schumer continuing to shut down the government because he wants to give free healthcare to illegals only further underscores how essential it is Republicans protect and grow President Trump’s Senate majority next year,” NRSC spokeswoman Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement.
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Republicans have leaned heavily on the complicated claim that Democrats are seeking healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants as part of the shutdown feud.
The organization informed NRSC fundraiser attendees via email this week that the event was “reserved and contracted years in advance, beyond even our current term at the NRSC, and both our costs and attendees’ rooms are non-refundable,” according to a source familiar.