Thune Says More Dems Defecting, Will Back Reopening Government
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) revealed Tuesday that at least two more Senate Democrats are in active discussions to defy Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and vote with Republicans to reopen the federal government, now entering its second week of partial shutdown.
So far, three Democrats — John Fetterman (PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), and independent Angus King (ME) — have already joined Republicans in supporting efforts to pass a clean continuing resolution (CR). Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) remains the lone Republican holdout over spending concerns.
Thune told Fox News that GOP support is holding firm and that momentum is building for a bipartisan resolution to end the standoff.
“Well, we’re only stuck as long as a handful of Democrats decide they want to follow the leader and play politics rather than do the right thing on behalf of the American people and open up the government. That’s where we are,” Thune said.
According to Thune, Republicans now have 55 votes ready to fund the government when the bill returns to the Senate floor for its ninth attempt, suggesting two more Democrats are preparing to break ranks.
“We have 55 of 100 United States senators voting to reopen the government. We need five more Democrats. It takes 60 to do most things in the United States Senate, and all we need is five Democrats. But their leadership is intent on pacifying and trying to appease this far-left base,” Thune explained.
The House has already passed a temporary funding measure to extend government operations through late November, but Schumer has blocked most of his caucus from backing it.
“This is a straightforward way to open up the government,” Thune said, holding up the 24-page resolution. “It is clean, it is nonpartisan, it has no policy riders, no partisan gimmicks.”
Schumer Under Fire as Shutdown Drags On
Thune and other senior Republicans accuse Schumer of intentionally dragging out the shutdown to align with next week’s “No Kings” protests — demonstrations reportedly funded by Soros-linked groups like Indivisible and promoted by left-leaning media outlets as “grassroots resistance.”
The Senate is expected to take its ninth vote on the CR Thursday, with pressure mounting on Schumer to allow a clean vote.
Schumer’s own words this week have fueled bipartisan outrage. In a private meeting leaked to Punchbowl News, the Democrat leader appeared to celebrate the shutdown’s political optics.
“Every day gets better for us,” Schumer reportedly said. “It’s because we’ve thought about this long in advance, and we knew that health care would be the focal point on Sept. 30, and we prepared for it… Their whole theory was — threaten us, bamboozle us, and we would submit in a day or two.”
The remark was met with swift condemnation from both the White House and Republican lawmakers.
“Chuck Schumer just said the quiet part out loud: Democrats are gleefully inflicting pain on the American people over their push to give illegal aliens free health care,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson.
What’s at Stake
The shutdown began after Senate negotiations collapsed over Democrats’ demand to restore health care funding for illegal immigrants, a policy Republicans have called reckless, unsustainable, and unfair to taxpayers.
President Donald J. Trump has maintained that his administration will not allow taxpayer dollars to subsidize care for illegal aliens, emphasizing that border security and fiscal responsibility remain top priorities.
As public pressure mounts, more moderate Democrats are reportedly losing patience with Schumer’s political gamesmanship. If just five more Democrats cross over, the Senate could end the shutdown this week and send the CR to President Trump’s desk for his signature.
“It’s time to put politics aside and get the government back to work for the American people,” Thune said.