Democrats want a government funding fight. But they haven't decided on a plan.

WASHINGTON — When House Democrats gathered behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss strategy to avert a government shutdown, they agreed on one thing: They must use the leverage of the Sept. 30 deadline to advance their priorities

WASHINGTON — When House Democrats gathered behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss strategy to avert a government shutdown, they agreed on one thing: They must use the leverage of the Sept. 30 deadline to advance their priorities.

But the party has yet to agree on what those priorities should be.

In the House meeting, lawmakers voiced anxieties about the nearing deadline, proposing a wide variety of ideas, multiple sources with knowledge of the discussion said. And they questioned whether their Senate counterparts would have the stomach for a fight after Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other key Democratic senators supported a Republican-only spending bill during the last shutdown deadline in March.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., encouraged lawmakers to focus on a viable endgame.

“If we’re going to lean into the fight, we need to win the fight,” he told the Democrats, according to a person in the room.