Thune says a shutdown can still be avoided if Democrats 'dial back'
their demands
[September 26, 2025]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader John Thune is rejecting
Democratic demands on health care as unserious but says a government
shutdown is still “avoidable” despite sharp divisions ahead of
Wednesday's funding deadline.
“I’m a big believer that there’s always a way out,” the South Dakota
Republican said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.
“And I think there are off-ramps here, but I don’t think that the
negotiating position, at least at the moment, that the Democrats are
trying to exert here is going to get you there.”
Thune said Democrats are going to have to “dial back” their demands,
which include immediately extending health insurance subsidies and
reversing the health care policies in the massive tax bill that
Republicans passed over the summer. Absent that, Thune said, “we’re
probably plunging forward toward the shutdown.”
It's just the latest standoff in Washington over government funding,
stretching back through several administrations. President Donald Trump
was the driving force behind the longest shutdown ever during his first
term, as he sought money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. This time it is
Democrats who are making demands as they face intense pressure from
their core supporters to stand up to the Republican president and his
policies.
Democrats have shown little signs of relenting, just before spending
runs out Wednesday. Their position remained the same even after the
White House Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday released a memo
that said agencies should consider a “reduction in force” for many
federal programs if the government closes — meaning thousands of federal
workers could be permanently laid off.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the OMB memo was
simply an “attempt at intimidation” and predicted the “unnecessary
firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will
end up hiring the workers back.”
Thune stopped short of criticizing the White House threat of mass
layoffs, saying the situation remains “a hypothetical.” Still, he said
no one should be surprised by the memo as “everyone knows Russ Vought,”
the head of the Office of Management and Budget, and his longtime
advocacy for slashing government.
“But it’s all avoidable,” Thune said. “And so if they don’t want to go
down that path, there’s a way to avoid going down that path.”
One way to avoid a shutdown, Thune said, would be for enough Democrats
to vote with Republicans for a stripped-down “clean” bill to keep the
government open for the next seven weeks while negotiations on spending
continue. That’s how Republicans avoided a shutdown in March, when
Schumer and several other Democrats decided at the last minute to vote
with Republicans — to great political cost when Schumer's party then
revolted.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news
conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
A seven-week funding bill has already passed the House.
“What would eight Democrats be willing to support?” Thune asked. “In
terms of a path forward, or at least understanding what that path
forward looks like.”
Republicans in the 100-member Senate need at least seven Democrats
to vote with them to get the 60 votes necessary for a short-term
funding package, and they may lose up to two of their own —
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky
both opposed it in preliminary votes last week. A competing bill
from Democrats also fell well short of 60 votes.
Thune suggested some individual bipartisan bills to fund parts of
the government for the next year could be part of a compromise, “but
that requires cooperation from both sides,” he said.
Democrats say they are frustrated that Thune hasn’t approached them
to negotiate — and that Trump abruptly canceled a meeting with
Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York that
had been scheduled for this week. Trump wrote on social media, “I
have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could
possibly be productive.”
Thune said he “did have a conversation with the president” and
offered his opinion on the meeting, which he declined to disclose.
“But I think the president speaks for himself, and I think he came
to the conclusion that that meeting would not be productive,” Thune
said.
Still, he says he thinks Trump could be open to a negotiation on the
expanded health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year if
Democrats weren't threatening a shutdown. Many people who receive
the subsidies through the marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care
Act are expected to see a sharp rise in premiums if Congress doesn’t
extend them.
Some Republicans have agreed with Democrats that keeping the
subsidies is necessary, but Thune says “reform is going to have to
be a big part of it.” Democrats are likely to oppose such changes.
By Monday, when the Senate returns to session, lawmakers will have
just over 24 hours to avoid federal closures.
Thune said he intends to bring up the bills that were rejected last
week. “They’ll get multiple chances to vote,” he said, before a
government shutdown begins at midnight Wednesday.
He said he hopes “cooler heads will prevail.”
“I don’t think shutdowns benefit anybody, least of all the American
people,” Thune said.
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