Senate GOP plans ritzy Georgia fundraiser amid shutdown, Democrats mum about Napa plans

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju, CNN

(CNN) — Senate Republicans and top GOP donors still plan to attend a major fundraiser at a coastal resort in Georgia this weekend despite the government shutdown, a move that puts an awkward spotlight on the underbelly of political campaigns as federal workers are being furloughed 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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CNN’s Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.