Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) indicated today that bipartisan talks amongst Democrat and Republican leaders have picked up dramatically, pointing to a potential end to the government shutdown.
Citing a list of crucial deadlines, plus fresh outside pressure, Thune discussed the new urgency into bipartisan conversations that have been sputtering for weeks.
“I think they’ve picked up,” Thune told POLITICO about the uptick in serious talks.
“Deadlines have a way of doing that.”
Thune, along with Speaker Mike Johnson and other House GOP leaders, appear increasingly convinced that enough centrist Democrats are getting ready to negotiate an end to the shutdown potentially by early next week.
GOP leaders believe that looming cutoff of food benefits, air travel delays and a new statement from the largest union of federal employees calling on lawmakers to end the shutdown are bearing down, forcing Democratic leaders to rethink the shutdown.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — who was the party’s leader in taking the shutdown to where it is today — told reporters yesterday that he believes after Nov. 1 Republicans will face “increased pressure to negotiate with us.”
However, top Democrats, including like Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), have signaled support for stand-alone bills to ease shutdown impacts.
The sudden shift — and dialogue — could be a sign of voter sentiment who feel that Democrats are doing a disservice to Americans with the shutdown.
Early today, The Horn News reported that new polling data showing Republicans have gained ground with voters since the shutdown began after Democrats have repeatedly voted against funding the federal government.
A Quinnipiac University poll released October 22 revealed that Republican approval in Congress jumped five points since July, climbing from 33 percent to 35 percent. Democrats, meanwhile, remain deeply unpopular with voters, holding a dismal 26 percent approval rating and a net approval of -41.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union of federal employees, has demanded an end to the ongoing government shutdown, marking the first time a powerful, Democratic-led group has vocally announced a desire to end the government shutdown.
AFGE, which represents 800,000 federal workers, urged the Senate this week to approve a “clean” continuing resolution to end the shutdown.
The AFGE is historically known usually a dependable Democratic ally and all but endorsed Republicans’ plans to end the shutdown in a statement.
“It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people, rather than on who is going to get the blame for a shutdown that Americans dislike,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said, calling the shutdown “an avoidable crisis that is harming families, communities, and the very institutions that hold our country together.”
In the meantime, Republican leaders continued to have internal conversations about what their next steps should be, including a funding punt to mid-January or later into March.
Thune told reporters that any stopgap expiring before the end of this year will not happen under Republican leadership.
“Yeah, there’s no way we can do that by December. I think that’s the assessment just based on what the calendar looks like,” Thune said.
According to reports, Republicans have privately offered to Democrats that once the government is reopened, bipartisan spending bills will start moving — first a package of bills including Agriculture funding, and then a second package of bills that would include Defense and Labor-HHS.
This is an ongoing story. Check back for further updates on the shutdown.