Senate Republicans aimed to frame Senate Democrats as undermining the funding process as the Sept. 30 deadline to avert a partial government shutdown looms, with House Republicans pushing a clean stopgap measure to keep the government open through Nov. 21.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argued that Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., lack a principled reason to oppose the GOP’s short-term funding bill other than appeasing the party’s far-left base. He said Democrats last March joined Republicans to keep the government open, but the argument they used then to avert a shutdown was unpopular with their political base. "It's getting to the point now where their base [has] got so much influence in the party, and they're so demanding on just resisting and fighting everything, with respect to the Trump administration, that they can't see straight," Thune said. "It is borderline pathological. It's like a disease."
Thune framed the House stopgap, a continuing resolution that would maintain current spending levels through Nov. 21, as the kind of clean bill Democrats once purportedly favored when they controlled the chamber. He said that if Democrats truly wanted to fund the government, they could support a bipartisan path to passage, accelerating work on the remaining appropriations bills. He contended that Democrats are resisting not on principle but for political gain, a stance he view as risky for their leadership image as the deadline nears.
The Senate has to weigh the House-passed CR against Democrats’ counterproposal unveiled late Wednesday night. The Democratic plan adds priorities not in the GOP bill, such as permanently extending expiring subsidies for Obamacare, reversing some Medicaid cuts, and restoring funding for NPR and PBS. Thune argued that some of the policy items Democrats are pushing in a short-term extension do not fit the purpose of the bill, but he left room for negotiations on issues like healthcare tax credits in a broader package. He characterized Democrats’ resistance as not serious about completing a full appropriations process, which would fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year.
Thune said he did attempt to discuss a path forward with Schumer last week while Republicans were negotiating changes to Senate rules to move nominees past a Democratic blockade, but said Schumer avoided engagement on the CR and governance funding issue. "He couldn't get out of the conversation fast enough," Thune recalled. "There was certainly an opportunity there to say, ‘We need to sit down and talk about, you know, a CR and how to fund the government.’ I just think this is more political posturing."
He criticized Schumer for preferring what Thune described as back-room negotiations and warned that the Democratic leader’s approach could stall bipartisan funding efforts. "That's the way it's supposed to work. But the way Schumer likes it to work, and I think this is, again, part of his business model, is you go into his back office, behind closed doors and write this, you know, in the dark of night, and that's just not the way we're doing business," Thune said.
Democrats countered that the GOP plan would inadequately fund critical priorities and that their own proposal is necessary to preserve protections and important programs. Thune acknowledged that some priorities in the Democratic counteroffer could be addressed in a broader settlement but insisted that the end goal should be a full funding package rather than a piecemeal approach.
The dispute comes as lawmakers navigate procedural hurdles in the Senate and prepare for a potential weekend session as the September deadline approaches. Congress also has a recess scheduled next week for the Jewish New Year, with many Republicans planning to attend Charlie Kirk’s memorial service in Arizona. Thune said the path forward would depend on Democrats’ willingness to vote and cooperate on a bipartisan process to fund the government and pass the remaining nine appropriations bills beyond the three already approved by both chambers.
"If they want to put a vote up sooner, later, and our members again — if the Democrats are going to fight us and make us do this the hard way — may just decide, let's just set this up for votes," Thune said. "When we get back here, and we get up against the deadline, when it becomes real, then we use live ammo."
Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer's office for comment but did not receive an immediate response. The public exchange underscores the broader tension over how to avert a shutdown while preserving a path to full funding through the nine remaining appropriations bills. Alex Miller, a Fox News Digital writer covering the U.S. Senate, contributed to this report.