Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Monday he is “optimistic” a deal can be made to reopen the government by the end of the week.
Thune said he was more upbeat as a bipartisan group of lawmakers has been working on an agreement to end the shutdown, which is poised to be the longest ever.
“Based on my gut and how these things operate, I think we’re getting close to an off-ramp,” Thune said. “The objective here is to try and get something that we could send back to the House that would open up the government.”
The original spending bill senators voted on would fund the government through Nov. 21, which would have to change. Thune said he would like to extend the stopgap bill into January.
“The longer runway is better,” Thune said.
The Senate majority leader said he believes the conclusion of elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City will also help bring the shutdown to an end.
Senate Democrats have voted 13 times against reopening the government, insisting they need President Donald Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first. Democrats want an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits before they sign on to the bill.
Republicans need five additional Democrats to pass their bill and overcome the 60-vote Senate filibuster.
If no deal materializes, Thune said he would consider scrapping a planned Senate recess to continue the bipartisan talks.
“I think we have to leave all options on the table,” Thune said. “Hopefully that will bring about the desired result if we don’t start seeing some progress or some evidence of that by at least the middle of this week, it’s hard to see how we would finish anything by the end of the week.”
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