A government shutdown can be a political weapon. What if it was eliminated?

WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers are eyeing ways to eliminate the possibility of a government shutdown , hoping to remove the political aspect and prevent parties from using the deadline as leverage in future negotiations.

There are a number of proposals being floated in Congress to adjust how the appropriations process works, all centered around the idea of making it impossible for the government to shut down even after the fiscal year expires and a new budget isn’t approved. Instead, most of the bills would automatically renew spending levels from the previous spending agreement until some sort of bill is passed.

While the proposals differ on some of the specific details, there appears to be a growing appetite among Republicans to remove the political leverage a shutdown holds — esp