North Carolina Republicans are readying an escape plan from Republican Mark Harris’ scandal-plagued campaign.

Days before North Carolina’s board of elections could vote to call a new race between Harris and Democrat Dan McCready in the state’s disputed 9th Congressional District, Republican lawmakers passed a bill requiring a new primary when the board rules a campaign must be run over again. That would give Republican voters the ability to sideline Harris in a special election, after accusations of illegal collection and manipulation of absentee ballots by McCrae Dowless, an operative hired by Harris campaign consultants.

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The legislation is an admission that many state Republicans are eager to cut ties with Harris, who defeated GOP Rep. Robert Pittenger in a primary earlier this year, amid mounting revelations countering Harris’ account that he didn’t know anything about Dowless’ work during the election. It’s unclear who else might run on the Republican side, though Pittenger’s name has been floated. But Republicans fear that Harris’ candidacy has been tainted badly enough that he would lose to McCready, and more unflattering information could come out when the board of elections holds its hearing on the fraud allegations.

“They’re getting their ducks in a row for what could be a really terrible situation,” said Patrick Sebastian, a Republican strategist in North Carolina and nephew of former GOP Gov. Pat McCory. “I think it’s smart. It’s smart to go ahead and prepare for the worst.”

Things may already be getting worse for Harris. On Tuesday, Republicans had pulled the measure to hold a new primary from a larger elections bill, citing a lack of support. But that night, the ABC affiliate in Charlotte surfaced a photo of Harris and Dowless together, and by Wednesday morning, the language mandating a new primary had been added back into the lame-duck legislation later passed by GOP legislators.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has yet to sign the bill, but Republicans have the votes to override Cooper if he were to veto it.

Meanwhile, a new affidavit filed Tuesday alleged that Dowless had more than 800 absentee ballots in his possession before the Republican primary earlier this year, when Harris narrowly defeated Pittenger for the nomination to face McCready. That followed other affidavits alleging fraud that had convinced the board of elections not to certify the results of the November race, which had Harris narrowly ahead in the vote count.

Preparations to field a Republican other than Harris are still in the early stages. Pittenger and McCrory are considered the top potential challengers to Harris in a new election — but McCory isn’t interested, according to those close to him, and Pittenger’s camp has been tight-lipped during the investigation into Dowless’ activities during the general election. (There were also absentee ballot irregularities in Harris’ narrow primary win over Pittenger.) Pittenger spent down nearly all the money he had in his campaign account after his primary loss, meaning he would have to raise money from scratch for a new campaign.

If neither Pittenger nor McCory runs in a new election, there’s no obvious choice for Republicans who want to block Harris. Some GOP prospects in the district just lost Charlotte-area seats in state and county government in the midterms, casualties of the suburban revolt against the Republican Party. State Rep. Andy Dulin has run for Congress before, while he and state Rep. Scott Stone were both candidates for Charlotte mayor in the past. Both lost their legislative seats in November.

Matthew Ridenhour, considered a rising star in the local GOP, is weighing a challenge to Harris. The ex-Marine recently served as a Mecklenburg County commissioner but lost reelection last month. Ridenhour hasn’t been shy about his ambitions and appeared interested in a congressional run whenever Pittenger decided to leave Congress.

It’s also not clear that Harris would necessarily lose a Republican primary if he faced a challenge: The former pastor has never relied on support from party insiders in his bids for office, and he has had a devoted following across multiple prior congressional runs.

McCready’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment. But North Carolina Democrats characterized the GOP’s legislation as a betrayal of their nominee.

“It’s vital that North Carolinians have confidence in our elections,” said Robert Howard, spokesman for the North Carolina Democratic Party. “One thing is clear with this bill: Republicans stabbed Mark Harris in the back, opening the door for a new primary in order to dump their toxic candidate.”

North Carolina needs to root out fraud and after an investigation “hold a new election,” said Howard.

But strategists in both parties are confident at this point that McCready would win if he faces Harris in a special election.

Earlier this month, Harris said he “wholeheartedly supports” a new election if evidence emerges that fraud swayed the election results but he’s remained quiet in the weeks since and his campaign did not respond to requests for comment on the primary change.

“Although I was absolutely unaware of any wrongdoing, that will not prevent me from cooperating with the investigation,” Harris added in video released by his campaign.

Republicans admit they’ve been backed into a corner, and some have privately voiced frustration that party officials have not effectively countered the state Democratic Party, which has filed affidavit after affidavit from voters and poll workers uncovering evidence of fraud. Some have also said the late-in-the-game change to election rules is bad optics for Republicans.

“They jumped the gun a little bit,” said Carter Wrenn, a North Carolina GOP consultant. “We don’t know exactly what went on in the primary yet and the general election.”

“It does look like they’re thinking, ‘well if Harris did something wrong we need a primary,’” Wrenn added. “Everyone needs a little patience.”

Without President Donald Trump to worry about, a bipartisan deal would likely sail through Congress to fund the government ahead of the holidays. But with Trump enjoying his border wall brinkmanship, everyone in the Capitol has basically stopped talking.

The House and Senate left town Thursday with no strategy to avert a partial government shutdown next week, putting Congress on the brink of an intractable conflict that could drag out through New Year’s Day — furloughing hundreds of thousands of workers and costing taxpayers millions.

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Frustrated lawmakers in both parties are complaining that congressional leaders have made zero progress since Tuesday, when Trump stunned even his fellow Republicans by boasting that he would take the blame for the closure of a dozen federal agencies if he doesn’t get money for his border wall.

Lawmakers say there is no public plan to prevent a partial government shuttering. And no secret plan either.

“There is no discernable plan. None that’s been disclosed.” said Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, as he threw his hands into the air. “Everybody’s looking to [Trump] for a signal about what he wants to do. So far, it’s not clear.”

The House isn’t planning to return until the night of Dec. 19 — leaving only about 72 hours to reach a border wall deal that has eluded both parties for months.

Democrats say they’re waiting on Republicans, and Republicans say they’re waiting on Trump.

With one week to go, the GOP must find an agreement that can satisfy both Trump and Democratic leaders, who have only grown more emboldened since their sit-down with Trump.

“I’ve not heard of any Republican who’s sitting down and figuring out how to get this through. There’s no plan,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

Yet there’s no indication that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are even talking. Senators in both parties said they were unaware of anything cooking between the two leaders, and the often-chatty Schumer was tight-lipped when asked if there were ongoing discussions. “No comment,” he said Thursday.

The House was expected to make the first move this week. House GOP leaders had planned to try and pass a bill giving $5 billion for Trump’s wall and force Senate Democrats to reject it under the chamber’s 60-vote threshold.

But with morale and attendance low in the House following a brutal election loss last month, Republicans left Washington empty-handed, with all eyes now focused on the Senate.

“It’s just all politics and theatrics,” said Rep Tom Cole (R-Okla.). He said leaders of both parties have the same thought going into next week’s final round of negotiations: “Somebody has to lose, and it’s going to not be them.”

Meanwhile, Democrats say they’re completely in the dark because Republican leaders haven’t taken part in formal back-and-forth negotiations for more than two weeks, according to a Democratic aide.

Republicans already rejected the Democratic proposal to freeze the budget of the Department of Homeland Security, including border fencing, through next October, while approving new funding for the rest of the government. But Democrats say they’ve had radio silence since then from the GOP.

“It’s all over the place, but we just need some guidance from them,” the Democratic aide said, referring to Republicans.

Privately, some GOP appropriators have been told to prepare back-up options to temporarily extend funding, though they admit they have little confidence that the bills could be signed by Trump without a cash infusion for the border wall.

Some Republicans say they want to delay the decision until Jan. 3 at 11:59 p.m., the exact minute when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would take over leadership in the House. Others are pushing GOP leaders to move the deadline to Dec. 26 to give them at least a few days at home with their families for Christmas.

Another idea — that some appropriators are already preparing — is a long-term funding bill that freezes funding through October 2019.

“We’re at an impasse. Something’s going to happen or we’re going to have to have a [continuing resolution] or a shutdown,” Senate Appropriations chief Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) told reporters.

Six of the seven spending bills are ready to go next week, which would make up nearly $200 billion in total spending. But Republican leaders in the House are refusing to put any spending package on the floor that doesn’t include border wall money.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders have hammered Trump for his vow that he would be “proud” to shutter one-quarter of the government — delaying paychecks for hundreds of thousands of federal workers — over the holidays.

“Right now, Chuck and I are not in a negotiation. We’re not going for the $5 billion for the wall, we simply are not,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday, making clear that she’s already bracing for an ugly shutdown fight that could carry into the first days of the Democrats’ new majority in the House.

For weeks, the Senate has been mostly focused on an internally divisive criminal justice reform bill and wrapping up a debate over the U.S. involvement in the Yemeni civil war. Senate Republicans say it doesn’t feel like the 2013 shutdown, when government funding lapsed for nearly three weeks as a result of a conservative gambit to defund Obamacare.

“We’ve talked about it almost none in our caucus. I don’t even know what the two sides are talking about at this point,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).

“It’s a lot of talking past each other,” agreed Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).