BIPARTISAN negotiations in the United States Senate aimed at ending the protracted federal government shutdown have taken a “positive” turn, according to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, as lawmakers work towards a short-term agreement to reopen the government and advance three longer-term funding bills for key agencies.
Asked on Saturday whether cross-party talks within the past 24 hours had been constructive, Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, replied: “Yeah. I’d say so.”
The shutdown, now in its 39th day, has sidelined thousands of federal employees and disrupted food aid, air travel and national parks. After weeks of faltering progress, both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate began substantive discussions late this week.
Reuters reported today that lawmakers had hoped to unveil the text of three fiscal year 2026 funding bills covering agriculture, food and nutrition programmes, military construction, veterans’ affairs and congressional operations.
These measures would finance those activities through 30 September 2026. However, the working day ended without agreement or the publication of any draft legislation.
The Senate is due to reconvene on Sunday for a rare weekend session. In parallel, senators are discussing a stopgap measure to reopen the government temporarily and allow more time to negotiate the remaining nine discretionary spending bills, including those for homeland security, defence, housing and health.
Republican Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota said the short-term funding, currently set to expire on 21 November, could be extended through late January.
Despite Thune’s optimism, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer criticised the Trump administration for withholding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP) funding and accused it of “playing politics” by restricting flights at certain airports.
He also condemned Republicans for rejecting Democrats’ proposal for a one-year extension of expiring health insurance subsidies tied to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
“The Republicans stormed out of the gate to block our call for a one-year extension of the health insurance subsidy,” Schumer told the Senate.
At least eight Democratic votes are expected to be needed to break the impasse. Thune did not indicate how Republicans plan to address Democrats’ insistence on maintaining the ACA subsidies, which support coverage for roughly 24 million Americans.
Thune said President Donald Trump “wants to have a solution to the healthcare crisis in this country, which is skyrocketing premiums.” However, Republicans have maintained they will not negotiate over health insurance subsidies until the government reopens.
On Saturday, Trump urged Republican senators to redirect federal funds used to subsidise health insurance under the ACA towards direct payments to individuals.
“I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the hundreds of billions of dollars currently being sent to money-sucking insurance companies in order to save the bad healthcare provided by ObamaCare, be sent directly to the people so that they can purchase their own, much better, healthcare, and have money left over,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, without offering details.
The ACA marketplaces primarily serve individuals without employer-provided insurance or access to Medicare and Medicaid. The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the president’s remarks.
Trump’s comments followed the Senate’s rejection on Friday of a bill that would have resumed pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, deepening the strain of the longest government shutdown in US history.
The prolonged closure has had significant repercussions for public services. Around 10,000 children and families have lost access to Head Start early-learning and nutrition programmes due to funding lapses in 18 states and Puerto Rico, according to the First Five Years Fund, which advocates for childcare and early education.
These programmes had relied on federal grant renewals due on 1 October and 1 November, both frozen when appropriations expired at the start of the shutdown. - November 9, 2025
