Thune Resists Schumer’s Demands as Shutdown Enters 4th Week of Senate Deadlock

FIRST ON FOX: As the government shutdown approaches its fourth week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has no plans to give in to what Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wants.

Ostensibly, Schumer and Senate Democrats want a guaranteed deal on the expiration of the Obamacare subsidies, and Thune has indicated he is willing to give them the opportunity to negotiate on that only after the government reopens.

But what he won’t do is cut a deal in secret with Schumer, which he told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview, which was too often the case when the Senate’s top Democrat ran the upper chamber.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wants to restart the government funding process, but Senate Democrats appear unwilling to support his efforts. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“You know, I’ve been here when everything was being decided by four people in Schumer’s office,” Thune said. “This is no way to run government.”

“It’s not the business model that Chuck Schumer is used to, and he likes to be the kingmaker and have everyone come and kiss the ring,” he continued. “And I just think that’s not my style.”

Thune described his leadership style as a bottom-up approach “where senators become senators.” This has proven true thus far in its handling of the shutdown.

He encouraged rank-and-file Republicans to engage in discussions with Senate Democrats in hopes of building a path out of the shutdown, rather than imposing an executive order my way or the highway.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., attends a news conference following a weekly Democratic policy luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 7, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

And from those conversations, an offer materialized to Senate Democrats on expiring grants that would give them the right to vote, but only if the government reopens. And this offer comes with several caveats on which Thune cannot guarantee a result.

“I pointed that out to the Democrats, because they said, ‘Well, we want a guaranteed vote by a certain date.’ OK, I think we can do it,” Thune said. “But they also want a guarantee that they’re going to win, you know, and I can’t guarantee that. And honestly, even if I could, there’s no guarantee that anything would pass the House.”

Yet with a vote offer on the table, Schumer and his caucus have not budged from their position. They again blocked Republicans’ attempt to reopen the government for the tenth time on Thursday and, in doing so, ensured that the shutdown would continue next week as lawmakers left town for a long weekend.

Also a potential complication is Republicans’ desire to reform Obamacare subsidies, which were boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic but are set to expire at the end of this year. In their opposition to the continuing resolution (CR) passed by the House, Democrats demanded a permanent extension of the program as is, which was a failure for congressional Republicans.

The Congressional Budget Office found in A report last month said permanently extending the subsidies would cost about $350 billion over the next decade.

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President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, October 14, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Thune did not delve into details of some reforms he and other members of the Senate Republican Party would like to see, but he noted that getting the cost of the program under control was a starting point.

“There’s no incentive to control costs,” Thune said. “And when insurance companies get direct subsidies from the federal government to enroll as many people as possible, they’re going to enroll as many people as possible, even if those people don’t know they’re enrolled.”

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Meanwhile, Schumer called on President Donald Trump to get directly involved in negotiations after a meeting with the president and Republican leaders at the White House late last month was not enough to prevent the shutdown.

Thune responded, “I think it happens,” when asked if Trump would get involved, but noted that first the government needs to reopen.

“That’s basically what the White House is saying,” he said. “The president likes to be, you know, obviously, he’s a guy who has experience, who wants to solve problems and who has experience making deals, and I think he’s probably more than willing to sit down with them, but he’s not going to let them extort him.”