Thune digs in on GOP funding bill, accusing Democrats of holding the government ‘hostage’

Washington – A head of the majority of the provocative Senate, John Thune, promised that the Republicans will firmly hold their seven -week -old financing bill, insisting that the only way to prevent a government closure this week is that the Democrats support it.

In an interview broadcast on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press”, Thune said that it was “completely up to the Democrats” if a closure will be avoided. He has sworn that there will be no negotiations on a Stopgap bill, comparing democrats to hostage takers who “divert” the process to pursue ideological requests.

“We need eight democrats to pass it through the Senate,” said Thune “to Meet The Press” the moderator Kristen Welker, adding: “What the Democrats have done here is to take the federal government as a hostage – and besides, by extension, the American people – to try to obtain a laundry list of things that they only want them to do.”

He said the Republicans will not compromise on the short -term bill, calling it a mechanism to continue to continue a long -term agreement.

“Compromises on what? This is a simple seven -week financing resolution to allow us to make a normal credits process,” said Thune. “They try to divert him and load all these liberal things and of particular interest.”

The remarks increase the challenges of the dead end while the chronometer checks to a closure of the government at the end of Tuesday, September 30, when federal funding is expected to expire. The funding of the government, even in the short term, requires 60 votes in the Senate, where the Republicans control 53 seats. Democrats say they want to use the deadline as an opportunity to treat health care costs.

The four main republican legislators and Democrats in the congress should meet Trump in the White House on Monday as the closure is looming, according to a White House and four Congress officials.

This decision, reported for the first time by Punchbowl, occurs a few days after Trump canceled a meeting planned with the chief of the minority of the Hakeem Jeffries room and the leader of the Senate Chuck Schumer. Jeffries and Schumer are expected to attend the meeting on Monday, with Thune and the president of the room Mike Johnson.

In a statement that followed the interview with “Meet The Press”, Thune told NBC News that “basic democrats become nervous, and Senator Schumer is too. The far left painted them in an unbearable corner, and they know it”.

“Hopefully Senator Schumer sees the light and listens to the same voice that removed him and his colleagues on the edge of a closure in March,” he said. “If a meeting of the White House helps him get there, I welcome the opportunity.”

A request that the Democrats made is to extend the funds of Obamacare which expire at the end of this year, which would threaten increases of two -digit premiums across the country in 2026.

Thune argued in the declaration that “fundamentally, nothing has changed, however, and the choice remains the same” as the one who faces the legislators on the edge of the last imminent closure.

“Democrats can either vote for a clean, short-term and non-partisan CR who prioritizes the American people, or they can choose a completely avoidable closure that favors politics above all,” he said.

Thune said that it was open to discussing an extension of this money, but not in the context of this government funding bill, and only if there are new limitations set to who can access these tax credits.

“This only happens at the end of the year. We can have this conversation, but before doing so, release the hostage, release the American people, keep the government open,” said Thune. “He is responsible for waste, fraud and mistreatment, so we will have to have reforms if we take measures. But I think there is potentially a way to follow. “

“There are no income limits. Now you can earn $ 600,000 per year and qualify for that,” he said. “It is therefore a program with a desperate need for reform. We recognize that there should be – I hope there will be measures taken which can respond to the concerns of Democrats. But you cannot do it on Tuesday.”

In the interview, Thune also discussed the decision of the Ministry of Justice to charge the former director of the FBI James Comey after President Donald Trump demanded that the prosecutor General Pam Bondi legally target and other political enemies perceived.

“The courts will have to decide this. These are allegations. These are not non-serious allegations,” he said. “There are people in the past who have gone to prison for lying to the congress. So I think I trust the justice system and the justice system to understand this. Obviously, they will have the last word. ”

Thune turned away when he was asked if the Ministry of Justice acts independently or if he should follow Trump’s wishes and pursue criminal accusations against other political adversaries.

“Obviously, a speculative and hypothetical question. I do not know the answer,” he said, while adding Comey: “Let the judicial system work, and he will have his day in court. And if he is actually innocent, I’m sure he will be found in this way.”

Thune was also asked about the aggressive use by Trump of the executive power and if there is a line that Trump could cross who would encourage him to express himself.

“I think I’m doing this a good amount, in fact,” he replied.

“I have done several administrations now, democrat and republican. They will always say as much authority as possible,” added Thune. “It is the nature of the executive branch. And yes, the congress, as a coequal and independent branch of the government, has our work to do, and one of the levers we have is the power of the scholarship, which is funding. We will also be resolved by short. ”