WASHINGTON — A defiant Senate Majority Leader John Thune vowed that Republicans will hold firm on their seven-week funding bill, insisting that the only way to prevent a government shutdown this week is for Democrats to support it.
In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Thune, R-S.D., said it’s “totally up to the Democrats” whether a shutdown will be avoided. He vowed that there won’t be any negotiations on a stopgap bill, likening Democrats to hostage-takers who are “hijacking” the process to pursue ideological demands.
“We need eight Democrats to pass it through the Senate,” Thune told "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker, adding: “What the Democrats have done here is take the federal government as a hostage — and for that matter, by extension, the American people — to try and get a whole laundry list of things that they want that special interest groups on the far left are pushing them to accomplish.”
He said Republicans won’t compromise on the short-term bill, calling it a mechanism to keep pursuing a long-term deal.
“Compromise on what? This is a simple seven-week funding resolution to allow us to do a normal appropriations process,” Thune said. “They’re trying to hijack it and load up all this liberal, special interest stuff.”
The remarks raise the stakes in the standoff as the clock ticks to a government shutdown at the end of Tuesday, when federal funding is set to expire. Funding the government, even on a short-term basis, requires 60 votes in the Senate, where Republicans control 53 seats. Democrats say they want to use the deadline as an opportunity to address rising health care costs.
The top four Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress are set to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday as the shutdown looms, according to one White House and four congressional officials.
The move, first reported by Punchbowl, comes days after Trump canceled a scheduled meeting with the House and Senate Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, both D-N.Y. Jeffries and Schumer are expected to attend Monday's meeting with Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
In a statement following the "Meet the Press" interview, Thune told NBC News that "rank-and-file Democrats are getting nervous, and Sen. Schumer is too. The far left has painted them into an unsustainable corner, and they know it."
"Hopefully Sen. Schumer sees the light and listens to the same voice that walked him and his colleagues away from the edge of a shutdown in March," he said. "If a White House meeting helps him get there, I welcome the opportunity."
One demand that Democrats have made is to extend Obamacare funds that expire at the end of this year, which would threaten double-digit premium increases across the country in 2026.
Thune argued in the statement that "fundamentally, nothing has changed, though, and the choice remains the same" as the one facing lawmakers on the brink of the last looming shutdown.
"Democrats can either vote for a clean, short-term, nonpartisan CR that prioritizes the American people, or they can choose a completely avoidable shutdown that prioritizes politics above all else," he said.
Thune said he’s open to discussing an extension of that money, but not as part of this government funding bill, and only if there are new limitations placed on who can access those tax credits.
“That doesn’t happen until the end of the year. We can have that conversation, but before we do, release the hostage, set the American people free, keep the government open,” Thune said. “It’s fraught with waste, fraud and abuse, so we are going to have to have reforms if we take action there. But I think there’s potentially a path forward.”
“There’s no income limits. Now, you can make $600,000 a year and qualify for this,” he said. “So it’s a program in desperate need of reform. We acknowledge that there’s gonna have to be — hopefully there’ll be some steps taken that can address the concerns that Democrats have. But you can’t do this by Tuesday.”
In the interview, Thune also addressed the Justice Department’s move to indict former FBI Director James Comey after President Donald Trump demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi legally target him and other perceived political foes.
“The courts are going to have to have to decide this. These are allegations. They’re not unserious allegations,” he said. “There are people in the past who have gone to jail for lying to Congress. So I think the I trust the judicial system and the justice system to figure this out. Obviously they’re going to have the final say in it.”
Thune sidestepped when asked if the Justice Department is acting independently or whether it should follow Trump’s wishes and pursue criminal charges against other political adversaries.
“Obviously a speculative and hypothetical question. I don’t know the answer,” he said, while adding of Comey: “Let the justice system work, and he’ll have his day in court. And if he is in fact innocent, I’m sure he’ll be found that way.”
Thune was also asked about Trump’s aggressive use of executive power and whether there’s any line Trump could cross that would prompt him to speak out.
“I think I do that a good amount, actually,” he replied.
“I’ve been through multiple administrations now, Democrat and Republican. They’re always going to assert as much authority as they can,” Thune added. “That’s the nature of the executive branch. And yes, Congress, as a coequal, independent branch of the government, has our job to do, and one of the levers we have is the power of the purse, which is funding. We also have the power of oversight and having hearings, but there are a lot of these issues that are going to get resolved by the courts.”
