Walking to the Senate floor on Monday afternoon, Thune was asked by a reporter if he was “optimistic of the deal to open the government this week” and whether there had been “progress over the weekend.”
“I’m optimistic,” Thune said.
“Confident?” the reporter asked.
“Don’t push it,” Thune replied, laughing.
Returning from the floor, Thune expanded on his thinking.
“I just think, based on, sort of, my gut of how these things operate, I think we’re getting close to an off-ramp here, but … this is unlike any other government shutdown, in terms of the way Democrats are reacting to it,” he said.
He declined to offer specifics about ongoing talks to resolve the stalemate, but reiterated the offer he has extended to Democrats.
“I think there are a number of things that we have made available to Democrats in terms of the path forward on appropriations, on doing, you know, obviously the minibus that we already have passed in the Senate, and obviously we’ve indicated in the past that if they want to vote on whatever their Obamacare bill is, a certain date by which they could have that vote,” Thune said. “So it’s all — these are things that I think, again, I’ve been saying for some time now. They’ve got to be willing to take yes for an answer.”
The comments came as some senators have forecasted a possible end to the shutdown this week, as Republicans argue that Democrats may be willing to relent after Tuesday’s elections. Meanwhile, Democrats argue the pressure will be up on the GOP due to the rising health insurance premiums, now visible after open enrollment on the Affordable Care Act marketplace began over the weekend.
